Hurricane
by Miss Pibbles
Summary: What starts out as a simple escort mission will go horribly wrong. And what starts out as a simple relationship will turn into something akin to a hurricane; mercilessly destroying anything and everything in its path. Sasuke x OC
1. Confrontation

**Okay guys, this is my very first time writing a fanfic, so be nice.**

**I swear to you all that it will be a fantastic read! So subscribe and review, please! Oh, and if you choose to read this story, please read all of it. Otherwise, don't, okay?  
**

**_When a mysterious woman, Kaiya, tracks down Sasuke and asks for his help, what will he do? Can he help her? What will Sasuke do when he realizes he is in love with this beautiful, sparkling emerald eyed girl? How will he cope when Kaiya's past demons arise from within her and threaten to tear them apart, and maybe even kill them both? Is Kaiya really worth it? Can he rescue her in time before her demons devour her soul and all Sasuke has come to know? Read to find out!_  
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**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of the Naruto series, although I do own Kaiya; she is of my own creation.  
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**EPISODE 1 – CONFRONTATION:**

"I don't like this…" Sakura whispered to Naruto. She cowered behind him a little, her hood shrouding her pale face and short pink hair.

Sakura and Naruto wore ankle-length, brown hooded capes to keep from being recognized by any unwanted passer-bys.

In front of them stood a small café that was basically situated in the middle of nowhere, shrouded by tall, green willow and sycamore trees just a few meters off a traveller's dirt path. The hot sun shone brilliantly through the tall forest that surrounded them. A soft breeze billowed gently at their capes as they hesitated.

_I know that Sasuke's in there…_ Sakura thought to herself.

The pain yet again flooded back to her and tightened in her chest, along with all the heartbreaking memories that accompanied it. She had tried to keep it dormant until the day where it would all vanish from her forever, but this was impossible to do; how could a girl who had loved a boy with so much of her being just simply forget about him? He was the only boy she'd ever loved, and not even her passionate confession could sway him the night he left all those years ago.

She wishes she could rid herself of these terrible memories, the anger and the burning pain. He left her with nothing. Even the encounters since then have not been pleasant. Seeing him again since the night he had left had brought back the dormant memories and the forever present pain. She had tried to attack him that time in order to save Naruto, but she knew as well as anybody else that she did not possess the heart to do so.

Naruto glanced over his left shoulder at Sakura. He could not see her eyes, but he knew that Sakura was still dealing with the pain of Sasuke's departure. Seeing Sakura upset had hurt Naruto greatly; he had failed at saving his best friend and the boy Sakura loved.

But that was all in the past. Naruto took a deep breath and strode towards the café. Sakura followed close behind.

"Be strong, Sakura," Naruto whispered. But he was in no order to give this advice as he clearly needed it as much as Sakura.

Naruto slowly pushed open the woven door of the shack of a café. This place was small and hot; there were only four tables, with three chairs at each, a counter and a small kitchen around back. A weak fan turned slowly overhead, but didn't provide much cool air.

The sun shone through the tiny cracks in the walls; this whole place was made of chunks of woven straw. There was no flooring either, just dirt underneath their feet.

"Good afternoon!" the dirty, skinny woman at the counter said cheerfully.

Naruto ignored her and gazed around the café. Only four people were present; two men at a table, the woman at the counter, and a familiar, hooded figure seated at the table in the back corner drinking tea.

Sasuke.

Naruto pointed out the hooded tea drinker to Sakura. She nodded; she knew it was him too.

They slowly walked over to the table at the back and carefully sat down.

Even though Sasuke's clothes weren't visible due to the cape he wore, Naruto and Sakura could still tell it was him.

Sasuke hoped they couldn't. He pulled his hood even further over his eyes with his free hand and pretended to not notice his two former friends sit down in front of him.

He continued to sip his tea.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, "but I don't have any spare change for travellers, ask—"

"Cut the shit, Sasuke, you know it's us." Naruto grunted.

Sasuke stopped drinking, but did not lower his cup.

"I have no business with you _kids_ anymore, so leave," Sasuke grunted back, and went back to sipping his tea.

"We have grown up just as much as you, mister big-shot, so cut the shit, got it?" Naruto growled, trying to keep his voice down.

Sakura quickly placed her hand on Naruto's to keep him focused. She immediately felt him relax a little and so removed her hand.

Sasuke continued to sip.

The fan overhead continued to creak and spin feebly.

"We need your help," Sakura muttered in a tiny voice, shifting uncomfortably in her spot. She was afraid to speak anymore words; the tension was so thick! Naruto and Sasuke could snap at the drop of a hat and kill each other in a matter of seconds, without breaking a sweat.

"Why?"

Sakura refused to speak anymore.

"We need your help for a mission," Naruto said bluntly. "And you're the only one—"

Sasuke stood up hastily, brushed himself off and headed toward the door, cutting Naruto midsentence.

Without warning, or knowing what she was doing, Sakura shot out her hand and clasped it tightly around Sasuke's. The familiar touch of his skin sent a shock of hope and pain up her arm and down her spine. His touch is just as she remembered it. He hesitated, but pulled away and headed for the door.

Naruto hastily headed after him, but Sakura did not follow right away. Sasuke angrily pushed open the door and walked out to the clearing out front of the shack, closely followed by Naruto.

"Wait!" Naruto called desperately.

Sasuke stood with his back to Naruto, prepared to make a quick escape.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Sasuke said softly, and disappeared in a flash.

Naruto uttered an exasperated sigh and hung his head in defeat.

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_Why do they want me?_ Sasuke thought. His hair and robe fluttered sharply in the warm breeze as he leapt up and down from branch to branch. Why would they ask, of all people, for _his_ help? It was peculiar because Sasuke thought he'd severed all ties with them long ago; hence they would cease trying to convince him to leave Orochimaru and come back to live at the village.

_Maybe it's another trick; maybe they're giving it one last shot to try and bring me back! …Hn, it doesn't make any sense. There's gotta be a reason why they want me for a mission…_

Sasuke was indeed baffled, but continued on his way back home to Orochimaru's laboratory.

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"Ah, I was afraid this might happen," Lady Tsunade sighed, taking a sip of her much loved sake. She raised her left hand and rubbed her temple. The stress, and alcohol, had taken its toll. Naruto and Sakura sat in her office, tired and frustrated from the tracking, and the rejection. Sakura sat tensely in a chair in the far corner of the room, clasping her hands tightly in her lap, her expression also tense. Naruto was slumped in the chair beside her, his expression tired and frustrated.

"Is there anyone else who can undertake this mission?" Sakura questioned hopefully. Lady Tsunade shook her head.

"A fully qualified jonin could, but half are out on A-Rank missions, and the other half are guarding the village and training new recruits," she explained.

Naruto grunted. "What's so important about this stupid escort mission anyways?" he asked bitterly, slumping even lower in his chair.

Lady Tsunade flashed him a glare; she hated being questioned, especially for the missions she assigned. "The escortee is offering a substantial amount of money if we are to complete this mission. And as you all know, our village has lost some of its popularity lately, and therefore there is less money coming into the village than there is going out of the village; we need to complete this mission as soon as possible!"

Naruto just grunted. Lady Tsunade continued to rub her temples in frustration and exhaustion. It was tough running a village, let alone one that is going through an economic crisis.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Lady Tsunade groaned.

The door swung open confidently, and a girl, a young woman, strode into the Hokage's office. She was of average height, and was extremely beautiful. She had tanned skin and sparkling emerald eyes. She wore black shorts and a black long sleeved bare midriff top that flared out at the sleeves; black high heel ankle boots and a black facial mask, exactly like Kakashi's, that covered her face up to the bridge of her nose. She had long, black hair, fashioned in an half-up half-down style, her ponytail held up with a hairtie and two large hair needles. Her hair flowed gracefully behind her as she approached Lady Tsunade.

"Did your two genin track down my escort?"

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	2. At Last, We Meet

**I had alot of people read my first chapter, so I'm going to be continuing this story.  
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**Enjoy!**

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**Episode Two – AT LAST, WE MEET:  
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The room was silent for a few more moments. Lady Tsunade still hadn't answered the young girl's question.

The young girl cleared her throat to break the tension.

"So, no escort?" she queried.

Lady Tsunade shook her head.

"I'm afraid not, Kaiya," she sighed. "There is nothing more I can do."

"Thank you anyway," Kaiya said. She then bowed gratefully to the Hokage and hurried out.

Kaiya hurried onto the streets of the Leaf Village desperately searching for her ticket to finding her escort.

The streets were alive with the village-people busily walking, talking happily, and undertaking in daily trade that kept the village afloat. Kids ran free among the streets, skillfully weaving their way through the crowd, running and laughing together.

_How am I ever going to find that Sasuke guy?_ she wondered as she wove through crowds of people through the village streets.

She then stopped and reached out her hand to an old man who was walking by.

"Excuse me, old man, but does the name _Sasuke_ mean anything to you?" she asked as she tugged on the old man's sleeve.

"Huh? Sasuke?"

"Yes, is that name of some significance around here?" Kaiya asked, becoming impatient. She wasn't known for having a patient nature.

The old man leaned in towards Kaiya. "Oh yes, but you won't find him around here," he whispered.

"And why not?"

"Because he's a rogue ninja now, working for Orochimaru and that Kabuto fellow!" he said, his voice dimming into a whisper.

_Orochimaru…?_

"Well can you tell me where he used to live?"

"Certainly," he said. "Take the next right, and then the second left," he said, pointing his wrinkly index finger down the road. "You'll see the big doors, fence and the red and white fan painted on the front. His house is at the far side; the emblem is painted on the fence-post out front," he said. "You can't miss it!"

Kaiya thanked the old man and followed his directions.

After a short walk, Kaiya finally approached the big wooden doors. She could tell that nobody had been here in years; the wood was dirty and was slowly being devoured by termites. The once proud, ancient red and white fan that was painted on the door was beyond faded and chipped away. Weeds overgrew through and through the enormous fence that surrounded the once great clan's designated area.

Kaiya reached out, stood forward and pushed the heavy door outwards. It was heavier than anticipated.

The big doors creaked open and cold wind and eerie presence greeted Kaiya as she entered the deserted, dilapidated area. Her black, bellybutton length hair fluttered sharply as she entered the clan's area.

_Wow…  
_

She walked cautiously through the depressing, empty streets; past old markets, ramen shacks and grocery shops. Woven baskets littered the streets, as did a few chairs from outdoor cafes. Otherwise, the streets were dirty and plagued with weeds.

It was so disheartening to see this part of the village untouched, or rather, forgotten by all. She wondered what was so bad to cause this place to end up in such a state.

Finally, she had reached what the old man said to be Sasuke's house; the sign post was painted with the emblem like he had promised.

She pushed open the rusted iron gate and headed toward the front door. It was left open, and damaged; it was like an atomic bomb had exploded over this part of the village, leaving everything as it was moments before it happened.

_This place is beginning to creep me out…_

Her sword clinked in its case and her black boots clonked lightly, but eerily loudly on the wooden floor as she walked past the living room, the kitchen and the laundry room, and finally entering what she hoped to be Sasuke's old bedroom.

The bed was unmade, clothes lay about on the floor and everything was covered in dust; the dresser was covered in dust, as were the toys on top of it.

She plopped down on the bed, and a cloud of dust gusted up and caused her to choke. She coughed and spluttered as she attempted to wave the dust out of her face.

Kaiya rose from the dirty bed, brushed the dust off her backside, and opened the dresser drawers. She rummaged through and through, like a girl trying to find her favourite pair of shorts, searching for her ticket to finding Sasuke.

She pawed through socks, books, t-shirts, shorts and underwear.

After a few more moments of pawing and rummaging, she pulled out a t-shirt and a tiny photo frame, shoved it in her rucksack and left the house.

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Sasuke hated being cooped up in the laboratory for days on end while Orochimaru and Kabuto were away. This time, Sasuke was forbidden to leave, as Orochimaru was in fear that someone would stumble upon one of his many secret hideouts, exposing his future plans. But being naturally stubborn, Sasuke left the laboratory and decided to go for a wander.

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Kaiya leapt up and down through the trees and became more excited as she knew she was closing in on her target. Her heart raced as she stopped on a high branch a few hundred meters from her target.

She crouched down and kept silent as her target drew closer. Her startling emerald eyes glistened in the sun that shone through the leaves of the trees; she usurped the pose of a jaguar, stalking its prey from above.

_Just a little further… come on, Sasuke…_

Sasuke, surprisingly oblivious to Kaiya's presence, strode casually toward her, unaware that he was about to be pounced on.

Kaiya drew a kunai from her thigh pouch and tensed.

_Just a few more steps…_

She gripped her kunai tighter and waited a few more seconds. Kaiya couldn't believe that Sasuke hadn't noticed her yet. No matter; she had the upper hand now.

Kaiya raised her kunai slightly, and flicked it sharply.

The kunai pierced the air and landed with a _thwock_ into the grass inches from Sasuke's feet, and immediately grabbed Sasuke's attention. He flinched and struck a defensive stance as he glared up at Kaiya.

"Who are _you_?" he sneered, his hand resting on his sword, prepared to attack.

She was still crouched on the tree branch, smirking down at Sasuke.

"At last, we meet," she said to herself.

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**So I hope you enjoyed this one!**

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**Peace, xx  
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	3. Challenge

**You may think that this is starting to drag on, but it's not. So shut up. Once this whole story is completed, it WILL be fantastic. Plus, it is under constant editing, so it will be getting better and better.**

**So, REVIEW IT!  
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**Episode Three - CHALLENGE:  
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Sasuke's glare darkened as Kaiya leapt effortlessly from the tree and landed a few feet infront of him.

He gripped his sword tighter.

The light breeze ruffled his black bangs as the pretty girl confronted him.

"Who _are_ you?" he hissed again.

"I'm simply a traveller, seeking an escort," she said, staring deeply into his eyes. Her eyes were the most brilliant shade of sparkling a deep, emerald green when they were hit by the sun's rays.

"And they say you're the one who can help me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the young woman.

"How did you find me, anyway?" he barked.

Kaiya reached into her rucksack and pulled out the shirt and photo frame she had stolen from Sasuke's old bedroom.

"I found you using my special tracking jutsu," she confessed, tossing the shirt and frame down at him, discarding their use. They flopped down at his feet. Sasuke stared at them, his anger burning within him.

_She was in my house...?_

He knew she must've been sent by Naruto and Sakura to try and get him to return to the Hidden Leaf. Will those two never learn? He would never fall for such a stupid trick; how else would she have found him if she had never obtained things from his room?

"Hn, I'm afraid you've been mislead," he said coldly, his glare easing up into an I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about expression. He turned to leave. He had become fed up with the attempts to get him to come back to the village.

_Thwock!_

Another kunai was thrown, grazed Sasuke's shoulder and became lodged in a tree several feet away, which caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He didn't acknowledge that his shoulder was cut.

"Let me guess," Sasuke spat impatiently without turning to face the girl. "Your home is in the Hidden Leaf village and you want me to take you back? Forget it; get lost."

He marched away.

"Ha! You think that blonde haired dweeb and that sad little pinkette sent me to bring you home?" she scoffed.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks again.

"Sakura and Naruto…?" Sasuke muttered under his breath. Had she just badmouthed Sakura and Naruto? He was beginning to develop a small interest in this girl.

Sasuke turned to face the mysterious girl. He immediately found her to be the most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes upon, although he cursed himself for admitting it. But how did she know _them_? He was determined to find out.

"So, you want me to take you back to your home?" Sasuke said bluntly.

The girl nodded.

"And why should I do that?"

The girl uttered a silent 'ha', and took another step closer. She was standing right infront from him; her light scent filled his nostrils. She smelled fantastic!

Again, he cursed himself for thinking that.

"Because if you don't, I'll just have to _make _you," she sneered.

_Was that a challenge?_

"Oh, is that so?" he challenged.

The girl's green eyes sparkled with excitement. The light breeze suddenly came to a halt, as if they were standing right in the eye of the storm. She reached her index finger to her cheek and pulled down her ninja mask slowly, revealing her peach-pink lips.

"Unless you're chicken…" she teased softly, just loud enough for him to hear.

Memories of his days back in the Hidden Leaf flooded back to Sasuke; the constant challenges from Naruto were alive and humming in his head. Sasuke would always win those challenges, whether they were physical or verbal. And as always, Naruto would wallow in his defeat, swearing that next time he will win and show everybody what a great ninja he was. From then on, Naruto would always end in a draw with Sasuke; never has there been a time where one would properly reign supreme over the other. Their fights had always been interrupted, except for that time when Naruto had come to drag Sasuke back. After that, Sasuke had properly reigned superior over Naruto, even though he had put up just as much of a fight as Sasuke.

In an angry flash, Sasuke drew his sword and swung it at the young girl.

She vanished simultaneously, her smug giggle ringing in Sasuke's ear.

_She's fast…_

Sasuke whipped around to see where she had reappeared.

_BAM!_

A fist, her fist, collided with Sasuke's left cheek and sent him sprawling on the grass. He quickly regained his balance in mid air and stopped himself from falling any further. He rubbed his cheek in shock and annoyance.

She reappeared about ten meters infront of him, that silly smirk still plastered on her face. This girl didn't look the type to strike Sasuke; he shouldn't have underestimated her. But he then changed his mind and considered it to be a lucky shot.

Kaiya drew her sword.

The two raised their swords simultaneously, and then charged at each other. Sasuke uttered a battle cry as he swung down hard on Kaiya. Their swords clinked as she rose to defend herself. They used all their might to push back at each other, not giving in until the other caved. In a stalemate, they separated and leapt away from each other.

_She knows her shit,_ Sasuke thought to himself. _She definitely knows how to wield a sword._

Sasuke slid his sword back into its leather case. He then pulled out two kunais from his thigh pouch and stanced.

_Let's see how good she is in hand-to-hand combat._

As if reading Sasuke's mind, she repeated Sasuke's actions.

"You're pretty good, for a girl," Sasuke teased.

Kaiya continued to smirk as she charged at Sasuke.

Sasuke tensed his muscles as she came forward and lunged at her. _CLINK!_ They deadlocked. Sasuke could feel her hot breath on his left cheek. A strange feeling, much like an electric current, buzzed through his body.

He immediately shook this unrecognizable feeling and concentrated on defeating this girl. Kaiya pulled away and swung around in an anti-clockwise direction and deadlocked kunais with Sasuke's again. He pushed and pushed but Kaiya pushed just as hard back.

The fight continued for a few more minutes; every time one would throw a punch, kick or kunai, the other would cancel it out effortlessly.

It was beginning to grow tiresome.

Kaiya lunged forward and threw a right hook, but Sasuke's reflexes were just that little bit quicker; he clasped his hand over her clenched fist, clasped his other hand over Kaiya's other hand before she had a chance to swing it, and deadlocked with her, yet again. Realizing that this could not go on, she leapt back a safe distance away from Sasuke.

"I'll make you a deal!" she panted. She waited until she caught her breath and resumed a casual stance.

Sasuke, refusing to give up his fighting stance and let down his guard, shot Kaiya a suspicious glance.

"Deal?" he echoed.

Kaiya nodded. After they had both caught their breath, Sasuke also resumed a casual stance.

Kaiya's dark emerald eyes twinkled with excitement and a small, sly grin crept across her peach-pink lips.

"If I win," she said confidently, "you guide me home, deal?"

"And if I win?" Sasuke taunted smugly.

"Well that's simple; I'll leave and head home by myself. No catch what-so-ever," she smiled back at the raven haired boy.

Sasuke thought for a minute. _She must have something up her sleeve; she seems way to confident to be proposing such a deal…She's up to something…_

"Hey punk, I haven't got all day. Do we have a deal?" Kaiya said impatiently.

"Yes."

Kaiya's sly grin shifted to a confident smirk as she prepared to continue this fight, and seek to win it.

Sasuke slowly and menacingly drew his sword and stanced. His dark eyes glowed seriously.

"Ready to lose?"

Kaiya giggled maliciously to herself.

"Prepare to eat your words…" she muttered. With her right hand hanging by her side, she subtlety conducted a hand sign using only that hand. This immediately caught Sasuke's attention. His eyes widened in shock.

_One-handed hand signs…?_

Although seeing this extraordinary skill, Sasuke mistakenly believed it was a distraction as he believed he had never seen such a hand sign in all his years of mastering different jutsus, so he discarded it and focused on how he was going to attack the green-eyed girl and win.

Sasuke tensed his muscles as Kaiya still stood there making those same hand sings with her right hand, and charged forward, belting out a battle-cry.

Before he was even halfway to her, his body suddenly stopped.

His body locked up.

His battle-cry was cut short, only to be replaced with a choking sound.

His eyes widened in horror.

He tried moving his body but he couldn't.

His sword slipped from his hands and fell to the grass.

He continued to choke out breaths.

_I-I'm… Paralyzed...? But…But… How…?_

This definitely wasn't a game anymore.

Suddenly, as Kaiya's hand spread out and recreated the action of crushing a bug flat on a table, incredible gravitational force came over Sasuke's body and pushed him down onto his hands and knees. Hard.

His heart began to race.

_She's...cont-trolling me...?_

He looked up at Kaiya.

She was now standing over him, her right hand now assumed the position of a puppetmaster's, her expression cold and hard; different from earlier.

_She can't be a puppetmaster…!_ Sasuke choked in his thoughts.

He retraced the battle in his mind; never did he see a puppet or any signs of a puppet; her hand signs were not puppetmastery in the least!

_So how is she doing this…?_

He thought about the kunai she threw that grazed his shoulder. Was it dipped in poison? No; he would've felt the effects earlier in the battle, or if not, straight away.

_Genjutsu…?_

Again, he thought this to be impossible; he had read her hand signs clearly and they weren't for genjutsu either.

"W-What… did… you do to… me…?" Sasuke choked out.

There was a feeling inside of him that was unknown. It was terrifying and invasive. Sasuke could feel it burning in his core and growing larger and larger. He could feel it draining his strength as every second slowly ticked past.

He had lost all control over every part of his body.

This jutsu she had bore upon him was alive and dangerous.

Kaiya uttered an evil chuckle.

She raised her right hand to just below her chin, and obediently and helplessly, Sasuke's body followed.

She raised Sasuke up until her nose was millimeters from his.

Her green eyes sparked with triumph.

"So, you ready to take me home now?"

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**So I hoped you enjoyed that one :)**

**And as I mentioned at the beginning, if you're not completely satisfied, don't worry; as soon as nearly all the chapters are up and when this is completely finished, this will be a good read, I promise!**  
**And don't forget to pass on to your friends!**

**Oh, and please review this; therefore I know whether to continue or not because right now, my confidence in this story is getting lower...**

**R&R!**

**Peace, xx  
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	4. Flashback

**Okay, so I went and did some editing after my sister told me I shouldn't drag on in my chapters and leave the actual plot to unravel a few chapters in.**

**The plot will start to reveal itself from the end of this chapter onwards.**

**The reason I made the first few chapters unrevealing is because it was to get to understand the relationship between Sasuke and Kaiya first, and reveal certain hints along the way that will relate to the major plot.**

**I didn't want it to be like:**

"**Oh first he's guiding this girl (that he dislikes) home, and now he suddenly loves her?"**

**"When did this happen?"**

**"That part doesn't make any sense; nothing related to that was revealed earlier!"**

**"Since when did that happen?"**

**And so on and so forth.**

**So you see my point.**

**So I'm sorry if you feel that it's dragging on, but bear with me, because this story will be a great one.**

**P.S – 116 hits! Thank you all so much!**

**Enjoy.**

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**Episode Four – FLASHBACK:**

Having all parts of your body under someone else's control was a sickening feeling. How had she done it? It definitely wasn't puppetmastery, nor was it a shadow-possession jutsu. And it certainly wasn't genjutsu either. So many unanswered questions plagued Sasuke's thoughts. Sasuke definitely did not want to get on Kaiya's bad side; that jutsu's incredible power was scary enough. What more could she do if she was blind with fury?

The thought of this made Sasuke shudder a little as he and Kaiya sat around a dimly lit fire.

It was a cool night. The trees rustled softly in the cool breeze and caused the dim flames to bounce upon their faces warmly.

Kaiya sat cross-legged and fiddled with her locket as stared blankly into the fire. Sasuke had opened his rucksack and tucked into a rice bun. After finally learning what her name was, Sasuke offered her some but she rejected.

The light breeze fluttered Kaiya's hair. Her hand left her locket to brush it out of her eyes and immediately returned to the locket. She stared at the fire, deep in thought. Sasuke stared at her intently. Kaiya definitely seemed interesting to him. She was beautiful and potentially deadly; a combination that sparked his interest in her, but he just couldn't figure her out. One of the many ninja skills that are taught is to be able to figure out an encountered individual prior to the battle commencing so one would have the advantage over the other.

But, with Kaiya, he couldn't do that.

She was much herder to decipher.

"Where did you learn such a powerful jutsu?" Sasuke blurted out.

Kaiya's gaze shot back up to Sasuke's, who was still staring at her intently.

"Well, when you've been alone on the road from a young age, you…pick up a few things," she smiled, still fiddling with her locket.

_Alone and on the road from a young age…?_

Sasuke definitely knew that feeling all too well.

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_(FLASHBACK) in the form of a dream:_

The sky outside was a dirty blood-red. Explosions went off all around her. Outside, she could hear the helpless screams of innocent people being captured by the army and brutally murdered. Explosion after explosion shook the house, and the tiny closet in the back of the house that she was hidden in.

"Stay hidden, sweetheart, or they'll find you!" her mother whispered as she shoved Kaiya in the tiny closet and locked the door. Kaiya protested and suggested that they run away before they could be found, but her mother wouldn't hear of it.

From the little closet, she could hear her mother sobbing loudly in the front of the shack. Another deafening explosion caused Kaiya to squeal and cup her tiny hands over her ears.

Suddenly, she heard a loud crash from the front of the house.

Kaiya wanted to spring free from the closet and help her mother, but she was forbidden to leave the closet.

Little Kaiya continued to hold her hands over her ears, shut her eyes beyond tight and silently prayed to herself that they wouldn't come into the house.

But her prayers went unanswered.

Angry, booming voices entered Kaiya's ears as the front door was bashed in. She heard the heavy footsteps of the army enter and come to a halt. She heard dark, booming voices and one small, frail, sobbing voice pleading in desperation to be spared.

"P-please… Spare us…!" the muffled, frail voice, that Kaiya knew to be her mother's, cry out. A few crashes and thumps came next. The booming voices grew louder and angrier.

"WHERE IS SHE?" one of the male voices barked. More sobbing could be heard coming from her mother. Another crash, followed by a high pitched scream caused Kaiya to cry. She was shaking violently in her little closet.

Kaiya continued to pray to a God she didn't believe in.

Another horrifying scream ripped from her mother's throat, followed by a loud _thud_. Then, silence. Even though she was stuck in the tiny closet, her mother's scream was crystal clear. But Kaiya knew what it meant.

Her mother was dead.

The footsteps grew fainter and fainter as they left the property.

Tears continued to pour down Kaiya's cheeks. She didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps grew heavier and heavier, closer and closer. Kaiya's little heart began to race.

_What? A soldier? But I thought they all left…_

They came closer and closer; just on the other side of the door, then stopped.

Kaiya opened her eyes.

CRASH!

The little wooden door was bashed open and shards of piercing wood showered over her, and a big, burly hand grabbed Kaiya by the scruff of the neck and dragged her out, kicking and screaming. The soldier dragged her past the living room, and finally past the kitchen to the front of the house.

The soldier stopped, scrunched Kaiya's hair and held it up so she was staring upon her dead mother's body.

She was lying on her stomach, her body was covered in deep, dripping wounds. A pool of dark, rich red blood spooled out from underneath and continued to expand. Her mother's eyes were open, and a glassy expression was forever plastered on, but couldn't be seen as it was covered in dirt, bruises, cuts and blood. Her mother's locket was covered in blood, and had been ripped off and tossed aside.

A shriek ripped from Kaiya's tiny throat, and she began to thrash and howl in terror and sadness. She tried to break free, but the monster gripped her hair and neck tighter and tighter until she could no longer breathe.

"That's what you ugly vermin deserve!" the soldier growled, then uttered an evil, sickening laugh, as if he was getting some sort of enjoyment out of seeing a little girl, of the age of seven, being forced to look upon her mother's corpse and suffer.

The guard threw Kaiya to the floor. She scrambled to her dead mother's side and threw herself on the body, and wept.

"Mother… mother…!" she wept. Her hot tears dampened her mother's bloodied blouse. The scent of blood was piercing her nostrils.

* * *

Kaiya gasped and shot up into a sitting position, her hair flowing wildly about her face. She was surrounded by a light pinkish sky and chirping wildlife.

Her heart was beating uncontrollably. She closed her eyes, held her breath and took a few deep ones to slow her heart rate down. Her whole body was shaking like a little chihuahua.

"Nightmares…" she muttered distastefully under her breath. She raised her hand to her neck and rested her fingers on her locket. Her mother's locket.

"Hey, you okay?" a familiar voice entered broke her thoughts.

She looked up and saw Sasuke crouched beside her, his belongings already packed up.

Kaiya hated her nightmares. They were constant reminders of what she would like to forget. They filled her with sorrow and hatred; a burning hatred for what happened to her, her mother and her village all those years ago. After that day, she packed what was left of her life and left. She never returned; it was too painful; on the exception that every year on from that day, Kaiya would muster up the courage, return to her home and place flowers on the floor in the front of the house. But she had not been there for years. She missed her mother so much.

The weather had been good for most of the trip. Today was a warm day, although overcast and threatening rain. The two did not fear the rain, as they would reach their next resting place before it would pour.

Although the sun was hidden in the clouds, that didn't stop the heat from coming in. What made it worse was that there was no wind, so it was sticky and the air was extremely moist.

"You were muttering in your sleep last night," Sasuke pointed out as they strode casually on the dirt path.

Kaiya's heart skipped a beat.

"Muttering? In my sleep?" she questioned and turned to look as Sasuke as they walked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Let me guess: it was something about my mother?" Kaiya asked.

Sasuke nodded again.

"Ah, I was afraid it might've been something like that…" Kaiya responded sadly. She reached up and softly touched her locket. Her emerald eyes dimmed in sadness as her gaze shifted away from Sasuke's, her black hair falling to shroud her expression from Sasuke's view.

"What happened to her?" Sasuke asked cautiously, hoping not to hit a raw nerve.

"She was murdered," Kaiya responded flatly.

"Ah… I understand."

"Understand? How could you possibly understand any of it?" Kaiya snapped.

The images of his dead parents flooded back into Sasuke's mind like a horrifying slideshow. There, on the hardwood floor they lay, dead; killed by his only brother, Itachi. His hatred began to simmer within him as he remembered his brother's menacing words of raw truth. Then, the sadness flowed back like waves on the beach. How he, too, missed his parents so much.

"Both of my parents were murdered," he snapped back.

Kaiya immediately looked up at Sasuke, who was glaring at her.

"Oh shit, Sasuke… I'm so sorry! I had no idea…"

He held up his hand to silence her. "Don't worry about it."

"Well, at least we have one thing in common," Kaiya said, half-heartedly.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

Throughout the trip, Sasuke had grown very fond of Kaiya. He liked her smile, and saw joy in her when he made her laugh. He loved watching her eyes light up and sparkle all the time. They could chat easily, and had a lot more in common they each realized.

After eating, they unrolled their sleeping bags and prepared for sleep.

The fire was dim, but it lit up the cave-mouth nicely. It provided a warm glow in the cool night.

Kaiya had receded into her sleeping bag in a sitting position. Sasuke just stared at her.

"Sasuke, why are you staring at me?"

He must not have realized he was staring, so he quickly shifted his gaze to the fire, his cheeks turning a light pink; good for Sasuke, she didn't see him blush.

She giggled and began to fiddle with her necklace, staring into the fire too.

Sasuke had noticed this habit of hers a lot, and questioned her about it.

"Oh, this? It was my mothers," she said, smiling warmly to herself. Sasuke knew that she was reminiscing about her.

"But it's the only thing I have left of her," she said, her smile fading, her eyes meeting Sasuke's eyes.

Again, Sasuke could relate to her. Although, Sasuke had nothing to remind him of his parents; no tiny object representing love and care, no specific item of. He envied her for that.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

"Sasuke, HELLLLP!"

Sasuke jolted from his slumber and leapt to his feet, his eyes wide in panic. Again, Kaiya shrieked in terror.

_Where is she?_

Again, another sickening shriek pierced the air. Sasuke grabbed his sword and followed Kaiya's howls of terror, leaving everything behind.

Sasuke arrived at a clearing where he heard her screams to be at their loudest. Suddenly, they stopped. The atmosphere became eerily silent. Her screams had ceased. Sasuke became worried.

"Kaiya! Where are you?" he shouted into the air.

No response, except for a flock of birds fleeing the treetops in fear from Sasuke's loud call.

Sasuke drew his sword.

"KAIYA?"

Still nothing.

A faint scream, like a bomb dropping to the earth's surface, grew louder as Kaiya came shooting down from the sky like a skydiver with no parachute. Her body pierced the air, and her scream cut short as she hit the ground. Hard.

She didn't move.

"Kaiya!" Sasuke rushed to her side. She was beaten and bloody. Her eyes were closed. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

Sasuke slid his hands under her and lifted her up slightly. She was slipping in and out of consciousness. He ran his eyes up and down her body, his panic rising with every passing second.

_Who could have done this?_

Sasuke picked her up and leapt to a huge tree limb a few feet up and rested her against the massive trunk. Before he could administer help, a huge beastlike creature crashed into the tree and shattered the tree, as if it were a mere stick.

Kaiya and Sasuke were blown apart from each other. Kaiya landed on the ground several hundred meters away, while Sasuke had managed to catch a look at the monster.

His heart sank.

He recognized this beast.

He recognized its familiar scales.

Its familiar purple scales.

Its long, winding body.

Its piercing, yellow eyes.

Its gleaming fangs.

_But… how can that be? Why is he here?_

Suddenly remembering the beast was still there, it jumped at Sasuke and bared its long, ivory fangs in attack.

Sasuke grabbed and swung his sword at the snake again and again. He missed. He hit. He hit. He missed.

With no further avail, Sasuke slid his sword into its case and conjured his most favourite handsigns.

"Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Sudden bursts of hot, orange fireballs covered the huge beast. It hissed angrily and flicked its giant, thick, muscly tail to Sasuke's left. He leapt into the air and repeated the jutsu.

But before Sasuke could fully execute his jutsu, the snake backed off, turned and slithered away.

Dumbfounded, and stubborn as usual, Sasuke chased after the beast, determined as to either why it had found its way here from wherever Orochimaru was, or, why Orochimaru himself was here.

Something wasn't right.

The beast didn't travel far. It exploded into a puff of white smoke near where Kaiya had landed.

As the cloud of smoke faded, a figure stood in its place.

Staring back at Sasuke were those piercing yellow eyes and pale purple skin, surrounded by all that long, greyish-black hair, and that creepy smirk.

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror, and his mouth gaped slightly.

"Sasuke, my dear boy," that deep, crackly voice hissed. "I'm afraid that your time is up."

* * *

**First off, I apologize if this chapter was too long, but as I mentioned earlier, I was advised to not let this drag on another minute longer, and to get straight to the point.**

**So, as you **_**should**_** already know, it was you-know-who that appeared infront of Sasuke.**

**Getting interesting, huh?**

**It better be…**

**So read on and find out why **_**he**_** is here, why Sasuke's time is 'up', and what he is after…**

**PLEASE NOTE****: Kaiya's flashback/dream was only supposed to last for no more than 30 seconds, as if you were actually watching this as a Naruto Episode.**

**Oh, and please review. I need at least one to post the next chapter :)**

**Peace, xx**


	5. Panic

**Okay guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was on holidays and just got back into it now.**

**I had this mass epiphany the day before my holidays and wrote down every idea that came to me, so I basically have notes for the rest of my entire story! So hopefully I can get it all written to you!**

**PLEASE NOTE: I start year 12 on the 7****th**** of February, and I have a lot of holiday homework that I haven't done, so please bear with me if my pace of uploading chapters decreases. I will be trying my best to keep up to date.**

**AND, my profile picture is Kaiya! I drew her myself today; she's my original design and creation. So I hope you like her!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Episode Five – PANIC:**

Sasuke continued to stare at the man infront of him, his heart racing.

"Orochimaru...?" he breathed.

"Yes, dear boy," Orochimaru hissed through his teeth, letting his abnormal tongue slide out from between his teeth.

Kabuto jumped out from the trees and landed beside his master, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his hand.

"I see you found them, Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto sneered.

Sasuke still stood, paralyzed with shock and confusion. He heard a loud moan from near the trees. Sasuke's eyes flicked towards Kaiya. She was about 15 meters away, trying to pick her sorry self up from the dirt. She failed and collapsed. Sasuke flinched.

Kabuto's glance shifted to Kaiya. He immediately leapt over to her and stood over her beaten body. He reached down and grabbed her by the hair and raised her up. She squealed and thrashed in protest and pain as blood spat and dripped from her mouth. Kabuto just uttered an evil laughed as he watched Kaiya suffer.

"Let her go!" Sasuke blurted out. He immediately regretted that.

Orochimaru snickered. "Ah, I see you've grown quite fond of this young girl, hm, Sasuke?" he smirked.

"Shut up! What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded.

"We've come for the girl," Kabuto answered.

Sasuke silently gasped and glanced at Kaiya, who had stopped thrashing once she heard this, her expression filled with concern and fear.

_What do they want with her…?_

Sasuke rested his hand on the handle-tip of his sword. Orochimaru' eyes narrowed menacingly as he caught Sasuke doing this.

"Calm down, dear boy, we only want the girl," he hissed.

Sasuke couldn't understand what was going on. Those two just leave him day in and day out, and now they suddenly pop out of nowhere, wanting to kidnap Kaiya? What sick things did they have in mind? Sasuke certainly didn't want any harm coming to Kaiya.

"Sasuke…" Kaiya croaked. "Help me…!"

Sasuke wanted to run and swoop Kaiya from Kabuto's filthy hands, but he couldn't. He didn't want Kaiya to get hurt any more than she already was.

Sasuke's temper began to rage within him.

"What do you want with her?" Sasuke demanded once again.

Orochimaru uttered his trademark evil laugh.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out!" he growled.

Sasuke's expression turned cold and hard. This was getting annoying. But before Sasuke could make a single move, Orochimaru vanished and reappeared inches from Sasuke's face, and jammed his fist up into Sasuke's gut.

Sasuke fell to the ground, choking and spluttering.

"Oh, and Sasuke, your services are no longer required."

As Sasuke had fallen, Kabuto jammed a needle into Kaiya's neck. Instantly, her body went limp. He picked her up, and Orochimaru and Kabuto vanished into the trees.

Sasuke cried out in desperation. He picked himself up from the ground and headed after them. Something shiny caught Sasuke's eye before he had managed to run off. He ran over to see Kaiya's locket lying in the dirt. He picked it up, shoved it in his pocket and headed off.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

It took Sasuke days to find the lab. Every hidden lab he stumbled across was empty. But he never gave up. He searched every empty lab and continued on. Three days passed by before Sasuke had finally reached the hidden lab where Kaiya was in.

Sasuke stopped at the entrance to catch his breath. His legs were numb and his lungs were burning.

He had only been in this lab a few times before.

_I just hope this is the right lab… I hope I'm not too late…_

Sasuke entered the lab and headed straight for the prison cells, located at the back of the lab. Orochimaru and Kabuto were no where to be sensed, so Sasuke hurried to the cells, incase they would return soon.

The lab was cold and deserted. Sasuke passed rooms that contained specimen in jars that Orochimaru experimented with. Others were empty, while one room contained a crummy looking bed. Water dripped from the ceiling and echoed down the looming passageways. Sasuke's feet scraped gently on the concrete floor as he neared the prison cells.

Sasuke could hear soft sobbing sounds getting closer and closer. He picked up to a jogging pace and finally reached the prison cells.

"Kaiya?" he called softly.

The sobbing instantly became louder and chains began to rustle on the concrete floor.

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Is that you?" a soft, frightened voice called out desperately.

Sasuke reached Kaiya's cell. It was small and dirty. A pile of straw with a sheet over it lay in one corner, while a small bowl for food, and one for water, lay in the other. He gasped at her horrible condition.

She was on the floor, too weak to stand. Still beaten and bloodied, she wept and gazed into Sasuke's onyx eyes in fear. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she scrambled to the bars on her hands and knees.

"Oh Sasuke! Oh I thought… I thought you'd never come! I-I've been here for f-four days! I-I thought you…" she couldn't speak anymore. Her head bowed; her words drowned out by her loud sobs.

Sasuke fell to his knees. He reached through the bars and rested his hands on Kaiya's cheeks, and held her face up so it was level with his.

She looked up at him. Her emerald eyes gleamed through her tears and were crying out for help.

"I-I thought you'd left me…" she croaked through her sobs.

"I'd never leave you," he whispered to himself. Kaiya didn't seem to hear this as she lowered her head and sobbed even louder.

Kaiya's hands reached up and gripped his forearms tightly and only gripped tighter and tighter.

"Get me out of here…" she wept. "Please, Sasuke, please get me out of here!"

She yelped in pain. Sasuke flinched. Realizing how tightly she was gripped Sasuke's forearm, she immediately released her left arm and let it flop to her knees. Sasuke gazed down at it. Whatever was hurting her was covered by her sleeve, so he reached down and pulled it up. Her left arm had a huge gash, one inch deep and four inches long. The pressure of her arm had broken the long scab that covered it and began to ooze blood.

"You're hurt…"

"It's just a scratch, Sasuke, I'll be fine," she replied, her voice calmer now that Sasuke was here.

"D'you have any water?" she asked.

Sasuke removed his right hand from her cheek, reached around and pulled out a small vile of water and handed it to Kaiya. Instead of drinking it, she poured it on the concrete floor.

"What are you—?"

Kaiya raised a hand and cut Sasuke short. She shooshed him and began to make hand signs with her non-injured hand. She then rested that hand on the small puddle, and suddenly, the water seeped up from the concrete and covered her hand, like a glowing glove. Sasuke gasped at this incredible power. Kaiya pulled back her long sleeve and then rested her water-gloved hand on her deep wound and held it there for a moment. Her gash absorbed the water, and just like Naruto's healing abilities, her gash vanished in the same fashion, the remaining water dripped off her forearm.

Kaiya sighed in relief.

Sasuke was speechless.

After a few seconds, he managed to speak.

"What… How did…? Where did you…?"

Kaiya mustered a weak smile.

"Special powers," she muttered. "Now, get me out of here!"

"No."

Kaiya gasped.

"No? What do you mean _no_?" she demanded.

"Tell me what's going on! I want to know why Orochimaru is so fascinated with you. Why has he captured you? Kaiya, I need to know what's going on!" he cried in desperation.

"Forget about that!" she said shrilly. "Just bust me out of here! Please! We can't risk staying here any longer, Sasuke!"

Sasuke dropped the question, and began devising a way to bust Kaiya out of the cell.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

After various attempts to bust Kaiya out of her cell, they succeeded. Sasuke pulled Kaiya to her feet and led her to the exit.

Before the two could reach the exit, Kabuto clones suddenly stared popping out of nowhere.

"They're back! Run!" Sasuke ordered.

Kaiya nodded, gripped Sasuke's arm tight and followed him. They sprinted and weaved through clones. Sasuke had whipped out a kunai and was disposing of the clones to make an escape route.

But as fast as Sasuke would get rid of the clones, more and more would appear. In no time, they had Sasuke and Kaiya surrounded.

Sasuke tried to fight, but the clones were surprisingly strong.

Kaiya shrieked.

Sasuke turned around to see Kaiya being pulled away by 5 of the clones.

"Nooo!" Sasuke cried. He furiously fought at the clones, but he was no match; he was worn out from searching for Kaiya.

The clones had Sasuke pinned down. He couldn't move.

He heard Kaiya being dragged off into the distance, kicking and screaming in terror.

* * *

**So, I hope this chapter has firmly grabbed your attention.**

**Getting good, ay? Hahaha.**

**I'll be posting up the next one within the week, so stay tuned!**

**Also, I need another review to keep going!**

**And thankyou to those who have been posting reviews! I really appreciate it!**

**Peace, xx**


	6. The Truth Revealed

**OKAY, OKAY PLEASE BEAR WITH ME!**

**First Chapter 6 (if you have already read it where the curse-mark was revealed at the end) = HUGE BUST!**

**Crap.**

**Shit.**

**Retarded.  
**

**Etc, etc.**

**For those who didn't read it, don't worry. This one is a bajillion times better.  
**

**So, I retyped it because it was hard to flow through.**

**ENJOYYYYY!**

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Episode 6 – THE TRUTH REVEALED:

Sasuke heard Kaiya's screams of terror disappear down the looming hallway.

The clones had him pinned.

_I can't let them take her!_

Mustering nearly all the chakra he had left, Sasuke broke away from the iron grip of the five clones and sprinted after Kaiya.

The screams had stopped.

Sasuke sprinted faster until he entered a huge arena-like room at the end of the looming hallway. It was dimly lit and cold. Everything was concrete; the balcony overhead, the walls and the floor, except for a few titanium tables crowded in the far left corner.  
Sasuke spied three shadowy figures at the far wall. One of those figures appeared to be restraining Kaiya, but as Sasuke walked closer, Orochimaru, Kabuto and Kaiya were all standing side by side.

"Kaiya?"

Kabuto clicked his fingers and a barrage of his clones swarmed over Sasuke before he could make a single move. They pinned him down to his knees, their titanium grip unbreakable.

"What's going on?" Sasuke demanded.

"Nice work, my dear," Orochimaru cackled, resting a hand on Kaiya's shoulder.

Sasuke gaped at Kaiya in shock as he tried to resist the clones' grip. "This was all an _act_?"

"Well, this was the only way we could get what we want; what Kaiya could get what she wanted," Kabuto replied.

"What?" Sasuke said, still completely in the dark.

"Kaiya, you held up your end of the deal, now it's my turn," Orochimaru said, snapping his fingers. Immediately, the clones picked Sasuke up and strode him over to a huge, painted summoning circle, and prepared to chain him to the floor.

"Let me go!"

"Calm down, Sasuke," Kabuto said. "Once we acquire your chakra, you can leave." He and Orochimaru turned and left the room.

"My _chakra_? What for?" Sasuke protested.

"Orochimaru needs it," Kaiya said bluntly. "He needs it to help me."

Sasuke stopped resisting the clones force and let himself be chained up. "Help you?" The shackles on his neck, wrists and ankles clicked shut and the clones disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Sasuke tried to break free, but he couldn't; he had barely enough chakra to do so.

Solemnly, Kaiya walked up to Sasuke, reached up to her left shoulder, curled her fingers under the rim of her long sleeve top and ripped it. The shard of clothing flopped to the concrete floor.

"We have a lot more in common than you realize, Sasuke," she said, turning her exposed shoulder to Sasuke.

Sasuke gasped in shock.

A curse-mark!

Sasuke's entire body froze.

"You… you…"

"Have a curse-mark; yes," she said solemnly. "But it's killing me, Sasuke, and that's why I will extract your chakra. Some of Orochimaru's power is in you; it's in your curse-mark… and he needs that power to help me; to rid it from my body forever."

"Killing you? How?"

Kaiya's blank expression shifted and became sorrowful.

**(Story Flashback)**

_When I was a little girl, I was found wandering around at the age of seven. My small village was under siege._

People of the clan littered the streets, juggling their belongings, while others juggled struggled to hold their children's hands. The sky was a burnt, dirty red. Smoke choked the lungs of all who tried to flee.

"Run, children!" the head of the clan boomed. While running, he scooped up a small girl, crying girl from the side of a street. Women and children ran for their lives, crying while the men of the clan tried to fend off the soldiers. Proud men of the clan fell dead, one by one, while evil soldiers did the same; all one by one.

_The original ruler of the village had been overthrown some years ago, and ever since, there had been nothing but trouble. Finally, the village's last pillar had crumbled and the society as we knew it fell into anarchy; soldiers roamed the streets, mercilessly killing the members of the Shizuoka Clan; my clan. The new leader, Ryouichi, secretly feared our clan. He then ordered the manslaughter of our clan._

"Men!" Ryouichi boomed from his pedestal. Battalions with thousands of soldiers stood at attention as they were to heed every word from the cruel dictator.

He was a tall, heavily built man. His dark hair and dark sideburns were combed back and glistened as he soaked them in hair gel.

"These vermin need to be eliminated!" he echoed, shaking his fist in the air. "They are a menace to our peaceful village!"

The soldiers cheered in agreement and raised their swords.

_Our clan was the most powerful clan in history; even more powerful than yours, Sasuke. We had the great honor of having an infinite, unlimited source of chakra run through our veins. Hence, we were the only clan to have access to the most powerful, rare and forbidden jutsu to ever be executed. Ryouichi feared that our unlimited power could be used to overthrow him and reclaim the village as our own. He was scared of us and that's why he had us killed. But, my people were a peaceful kind. Yes; we had infinite chakra and the most powerful and dangerous jutsus in the world, but we took sacred vows before entering the academy to not abuse such power, nor use it for war, as it would have catastrophic consequences. The elimination of this vow was hotly debated when we secretly learned of Ryouichi's plan of destruction. Although, if a ninja broke the vow, the elders would restrain him and cast a Relinquishing Jutsu on said ninja._

_The Relinquishing Jutsu is passed down from one female elder to only one other female elder, generation to generation. It is used to suck every drop of chakra, and inherited traits, from the individual, leaving them at zero levels of chakra for all eternity._

"Let me go!" the man begged. He was pinned to his knees by guards in a giant summoning circle. An elder strode up to him.

"You have betrayed the sanctity of our clan!" she boomed, conjuring hand signs as she came closer. The man squirmed and protested as he was chained to the floor, still on his knees.

"Relinquishing Jutsu!" she echoed. She then held her palm up over the poor man and spread her fingers. The man gazed helplessly up at her hand.

Suddenly, a blue aura rose from the man like glowing smoke. The aura grew as the seconds ticked by.

The man howled in pain as the last drops of chakra were extracted from his body. When the last of the blue aura was absorbed into the elder's hand, the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell over onto his face, unconscious.

_Then, that person was to be banished from the village, forever. Yes; it meant that they could no longer perform of learn jutsu. That's how we dealt with troublemakers back in our village. But that stupid bastard__ Ryouichi __wouldn't hear of it. He thought we would rebel and use the Relinquishing Jutsu on him, thereby overthrowing him and restoring peace to our broken village. But that greedy asshole had plans of his own. He was one step ahead. He had every person from my clan murdered. He had my mother and my friends murdered. Everyone I knew… Murdered._

_I was the only one who managed to escape. I don't know how I did it, but I did. Hearing my mother die, and seeing my mother dead, right infront of my eyes, was… horrifying._

_My dad was also never found; he left us to help protect everyone and defeat the soldiers._

"Daddy!" I screamed. I ran up to him and wrapped myself around his leg. "Please don't go!"

I buried my head into his pants-leg and began to cry. He unlatched me from his leg and knelt down.

"Hey, don't worry sweetheart," he said, looking into my wet eyes. "Daddy won't be gone for long. I promise. You need to stay here with Mommy and protect her, got it?" he kissed me on the forehead, then kissed my mother, told us he loved us, picked up his rucksack and walked out the door.

_I didn't pack anything as I fled the village. I grabbed my mother's locket and ran. I just ran and ran until my lungs were on fire._

_Then one day, while I was walking alone in the forest, Orochimaru found me. He offered to take me in when no one else would. I had no family and no friends. So I followed him. When he was training me, he discovered my chakra was unstable. Upon research, he learned that I was a Shizuoka._

_My unstable chakra was causing problems when I'd learnt a new jutsu. I could execute it perfectly, but then it got out of hand and I would almost destroy everything in my path, or even myself._

"Once more, child," Orochimaru instructed.

I was tired. My body was physically exhausted, but I wanted to learn this jutsu so badly!

Orochimaru had dragged me to a large clearing to train me.

"Okay."

I stood back, took a deep breath and slowly, but precisely, conjured up the hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fire Whip Jutsu!"

I stanced and felt the fire emerge from the palm of my right hand. I used my chakra to expand it as long as I could without losing control. Awkwardly, the fire grew. I held the whip in my hand.

"I-I did it!" I cheered, gazing triumphantly at the beautiful Fire Whip in my hand.

Orochimaru didn't seem too impressed. "Make it larger," he ordered.

I turned and gazed blankly at him. "But…"

"Do it."

Like a good girl, I obeyed. I let more chakra seep out, but the fire sucked it up in an instant and hungrily ate into more of my chakra.

I had lost control.

I panicked.

The fire grew too big for me to handle. The fire handle grew too thick. It seared my hand and I let go. I shrieked in pain and fell to my knees as the fire whip exploded in a mini fire-storm above our heads, burning the treetops and some of the grass around me.

I crouched over on my knees, holding my hand into my stomach with my other hand. Tears sprung from my eyes. I unbent slightly and looked at my right hand. It was red, blistered and bleeding. And I was in tremendous pain.

Before Orochimaru could get to me, I ran to the creek. The creek was about 300 meters from here. I flopped down at the edge, my hair wild about my face; some parts of it were singed. I quickly conjured hand signs with my left hand and placed my right hand in the water. I cringed in pain as I submerged it in the cool, blue water. After a few moments, glowed a light blue, and healed.

I sighed in relief.

"Child… how… did you do _that_?" Orochimaru stuttered. I turned and looked up to see him standing over me, dumbfounded, eyes wide. He had followed me and saw the whole thing.

_To control this, Orochimaru offered his help. That's when he gave me the curse-mark._

"Don't be scared, child," Orochimaru whispered. "it will all be over soon."

I hesitated. "Well, o-okay, if you're s-sure…" I stuttered. I took one last look at the forest clearing around me and took a deep breath, closed my eyes and waited.

My whole body jerked sharply as I felt Orochimaru's teeth dig into the corner of my neck. My eyes shot open. I tried to breathe, but all I could manage was choking sounds. I dropped to my knees as Orochimaru kept his teeth firmly gripped into my skin. After a few more seconds, he receded, the mark appeared and my neck began to sear in a burning sensation that I've never felt before. I cupped my hands over where he had bitten and doubled over in intense pain. I was shrieking so loud that the leaves on the trees shook. I don't know how long I was shrieking for. By the end of it all, my eyes were red from crying and my head was pounding. My hands were cramping from gripping the side of my neck so hard.

_It helped a great deal; it suppressed my chakra and would only let out a certain amount; enough for me to control. A year later, I escaped from Orochimaru when I learned of the horrible experiments he conducted. I thought he was going to use me and toss me aside, so I ran._

_A few months ago, the curse-mark stared doing funny things to me and my chakra; as I got stronger, the curse-mark wouldn't let anymore chakra out than what I wanted it to. Every time I tried, it would either let out way too much, or it would suppress it within me so hard that it would burn my insides, causing my organs to be constantly battered and bruised, even sometimes cut. I would use my water healing jutsu, but it could never completely fix the problem._

_About four weeks ago, I crossed paths with Orochimaru. He saw what the curse-mark was doing to me. I caved in; I begged him to help me, as I knew that my organs could not sustain anymore damage. He offered to help me, on one condition… that I bring you to him. He told me that he could not fully remove my curse-mark, as he was not as powerful as he used to be. He also explained that some of his power was in you, and that he had to have it in order to help me._

_Having infiltrated my clan elder's private quarters when I was younger; I learned the hand signs and requirements of the Relinquishing Jutsu._

"And this is where it's brought us," Kaiya said.

Sasuke lowered his head in defeat, his facial features remained taught.

"I… I can't believe you used me…" Sasuke muttered disappointingly.

Kaiya said nothing for a few moments.

"It's just business," she muttered, turning away from Sasuke.

Something inside Sasuke snapped. His fury and chakra boiled within him as he shattered the chains holding him down.

Kaiya gasped as she spun around. Sasuke stormed toward her, his onyx eyes ablaze with fury.

"Sasuke—"

"—I can't believe you used me!" he yelled, pushing Kaiya's chest, causing her to stumble. "And I believed you—!" He pushed Kaiya again, this time causing her to fall over. Kaiya gazed up at Sasuke in fear. She held her left hand infront of her as if to shield herself.

"—Sasuke, what the—?"

He continued. "—and I not only believed you, I actually—aaargh!" He closed his eyes, raised his hand to his forehead and cringed in frustration and hurt.

Sasuke opened his eyes and drew his sword.

"Get up!" he screamed, his voice cracking, the fury still ablaze in his onyx eyes. "You're not getting my chakra without a fight!"

Kaiya stood up and brushed herself off.

Kabuto leaned over to Orochimaru

"Shouldn't we help her?" He whispered as they watched form the overhead balcony.

Orochimaru shook his head. An evil grin appeared on his skinny lips.

"No, Kabuto," he said, uttering a small laugh.

"I want to see how much she has grown."

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**Sooooo... what did everybody think?**

**I hope you liked it!**

**By the way, the name of the leader (Ryouichi) and Kaiya's clan/surname (Shizuoka) are ones I just got off a site that had Japanese names and surnames, so no, I don't own them.**

**Everything else; the plot idea, ALL the jutsu names and descriptions, Kaiya's whole life story, I OWN THEM! They're mine.**

**Please review; I need at least THREE more to keep going!**

**And to all those who have read/reviewed/faved/alerted my story, THANKYOU ALL SO MUCH! I deeply appreciate it!  
**


	7. Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

**I hope you guys liked 6.**

**Sorry I didn't post straight away. I was waiting for those 3 reviews that I didn't get.**

***hint hint***

**I now have (since I last checked) 546 views and 12 reviews.**

**So could we pretty please post more reviews?**

**Pretty please?**

**I said I'd continue if I got 3 more.**

***hint hint***

**So enjoy 7!**

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Episode 7 – JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Sasuke's breath grew heavier by the second. He gripped his sword so tight that his knuckles white. Sweat dripped down his left temple. An emotion within him, much like the one felt when Itachi slaughtered their clan, began to boil violently within him; a feeling of betrayal and hurt mixed with rage.

He couldn't take it another second longer.

"Fight me!" he screamed, his voice riddled deeply with rage.

Kaiya just stood there, her normally playful, emerald eyes were now stone cold. They were not the eyes Sasuke knew when he had first met her.

She just stood there, motionless.

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut tight, his facial features becoming taught. He then gripped his sword even tighter.

"FIGHT ME!" he cried, his eyes jolting open to reveal his sharingan ablaze in his normally onyx eyes.

Sasuke's desperate cry echoed off the stone walls as both still stood motionless.

Kaiya closed her eyes, sighed, and opened them again, as if bored by the current situation.

"Fine, but put the sword away, Sasuke," she said coldly, whipping out two kunai knives and preparing for battle.

"And let's fight like _real_ ninja!"

Knowing he was expertly skilled and close range combat, Sasuke obeyed Kaiya's commands and also whipped out two kunai knives. In a flash, he charged at Kaiya, uttering a battle cry as he held his kunais up in the air. Knowing what movements Kaiya was going to execute before she herself even knew, Sasuke deflected every single one of her attempted blows.

Suddenly, Kaiya disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke and delivered a powerful kick to his back, which sent him flying through the air. He managed to catch his balance before he could hit the ground. He had lost grip on both of his kunai and they had slid across the concrete floor on the other side of the room.

Before he could attempt to reach them, Kaiya was already charging at him, her features plagued with determination, her fist aimed at his face.

Sasuke reached out, clamped his hand over Kaiya's fist and stopped it right in its path. He then grabbed her waist with his other hand and sent her soaring over his head and landing down onto the concrete, hard.

Flinching at her failed attempt, Kaiya executed the hand signs and a clone appeared by her side.

_I barely saw her hands move…!_

Both clones raged toward Sasuke. He tensed his muscles and prepared himself. She was definitely an expert at hand to hand combat; all of her punches, elbows, knees and kicks were all right on target, but having the sharingan as an advantage, Sasuke was able to deflect most of them thrown by Kaiya and her clone.

Sasuke leapt back to get to get an advantage to foreseeing their moves, but before he could land his foot onto the concrete, her clone appeared behind him.

"You're pathetic," it hissed into his ear. As Sasuke turned his head, as if all in slow motion, it then delivered an almighty punch to the side of his cheek.

Sasuke was, again, sent flying across the room. Before he hit the wall, Kaiya appeared there out of nowhere. She reached out, gripped his wrists, spun around on one foot and launched him up with incredible force.

Chunks of concrete and a cloud of dust greeted Sasuke as his body collided with the stone wall just above the balcony. His body flopped down to the balcony like a ragdoll. The debris crashed onto Sasuke and caused the balcony to buckle and crumble.

Sasuke was the first to fall, followed by the debris. A cloud of dust, much like volcano ash, shot up from the ground as the concrete chunks covered Sasuke.

From above, Orochimaru gasped. Kabuto was in shock.

"There's… no way she could've…" Kabuto stuttered, leaning over the balcony.

Like a miracle, Sasuke staggered to his feet and rose up from the stone grave like a zombie. His body was badly beaten, but that didn't seem to phase him in the slightest.

"Shit…" Kaiya muttered. "Looks like I'm going to have to lift my game."

"That all you got?" Sasuke called out to her, brushing the dust from his midnight black hair.

"Not even close!"

Kaiya's clone disappeared as she executed more hand signs; ones that Sasuke recognized, but were slightly altered.

In a puff of white smoke, enormous bat wings appeared on Kaiya's back. She stretched them out as wide as they could go as a smirk crossed her peach-pink lips.

Sasuke gaped in horror.

Kaiya snickered. "You like it?"

_It looks like a transformation jutsu, but…_

"What is it?" Orochimaru whispered to Kabuto. "I've never seen such a jutsu executed before."

"It's a rare form of the transformation jutsu. I discovered it upon research the time we took Kaiya in. It was an ancient jutsu that was invented in the early days of her clan. Their specialty was using it to gain special animal traits and using them to their advantage. For example, for aerial attacks, a person would execute it and gain the wings of a hawk, or if they desired the speed of a cheetah, they would use it to gain the cheetahs legs and would therefore be able to run at great speeds, and so on. Trying to control the animalistic habits picked up when gaining an animal body part is extremely hard. Most ninja that were not of her clan that tried to execute it were overcome with the animalistic habits, killing not only their opponents, but killing themselves also, by draining their chakra to absolute zero," he explained.

"Incredible…!" Orochimaru exclaimed under his breath. An evil smile formed on his skinny lips. "This battle is going to get interesting," he rasped, uttering an evil laugh.

Suddenly, the bat wings that sprouted from Kaiya's back began to flap and gain air. She rose up form the ground, the huge wings causing dust to float in the air.

Sasuke swallowed nervously.

_I've never faced an opponent in the air. Well maybe, but not like this. This is different. I need to watch myself._

Now that Kaiya was in the air, she had the advantage over Sasuke. She began firing fireball after fireball down at Sasuke, swooping like a magpie does when an unwanted someone had wandered too close to their nest. Sasuke returned the fireballs, along with a shuriken or two.

Aerial attacks weren't one of Sasuke's strong points, nor was it his favourite.

The battle raged on for another twenty minutes. In that time, Kaiya had swooped so low on Sasuke that he had managed to grasp one of her wings and hitch a ride. Angry, Kaiya had flown straight into the stone walls in hopes to rid herself of him. Before being violently thrown off, Sasuke managed to pierce and shed holes in Kaiya's wings. Howling in pain, her wings had disappeared. They both fell to the floor.

From then on, it was extensive hand to hand combat. The sounds of flesh crashing against flesh was the only sound that echoed throughout the arena-like room. Heavy breathing and battle cries often seeped out through the crashing flesh.

_Punch._

_Hit._

"_Argh!"_

_Miss._

_Kick._

"_Haaah!"_

_Elbow._

_Miss._

"_Rrrrgh!"_

_Knee._

_Hit._

"_Uhnn…!"_

_Punch._

_Miss._

_Punch._

_Hit._

_Kick._

_Deadlock._

Both Sasuke and Kaiya finally leapt back a safe distance from one another. Both were panting and covered in scratches, bruises and cuts. Sweat poured down their foreheads and down to their necks. Both bodies heaved in exhaustion and determination.

Throughout the battle, Kabuto noticed that Orochimaru was becoming eerily engrossed in the way Kaiya was fighting. It was like something had ignited an electrifying, dangerous spark within him.

_I've seen this look in his eyes before…_

It was true that Kaiya had advanced incredible lengths beyond her years, but the look in his eyes was dangerous; his eyes glinted, even in the dimly lit room, and he bared his teeth as his interested smile evolved into a deranged grin.

Down below, Sasuke and Kaiya continued to fight.

"My lord, are you alright…?"

Ignored, Kabuto referred his gaze back to the battle.

"Water Whip Jutsu!" Kaiya screeched, conjuring hand signs at her phenomenal speed. Within seconds, a whip made form water sprouted from her right hand.

_She's infused her chakra with water! Incredible! And what's more, because there is no obvious source of water nearby, she had infused her chakra with the moisture in the air! …Hmm, she could prove of some use to me…_ Orochimaru thought to himself.

Like a lion-tamer, Kaiya flicked the whip at Sasuke time and time again. He had to dodge it at all costs; being infused with chakra, there's no telling how powerful it could be.

_Hmm… I see how she's done it; she's used the moisture in the air… Looks like I'm going to have to get rid of it!_

"Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The room was ablaze with fire. Thick smoke filled the air and caused everyone in it to choke.

In seconds, her whip diminished.

"Ha! I see you've figured it out," Kaiya called out to Sasuke. "No matter; it's time to end this!"

_End this…?_

Without uttering a single word, she quickly executed some hand signs and paused.

_...Not those hand signs!  
_

Slowly, Kaiya raised her hand and spread her fingers out in the same fashion she did when they had battled the day she had first met Sasuke.

"Oh, no!" Sasuke cried. Before he could move, Sasuke's whole body froze. No words came out, only choking sounds.

Kaiya raised a second hand out and lowered it sharply. Sasuke immediately crashed to his knees. Hard.

"She's… she's controlling him? But… but how…?" Kabuto stuttered.

Kabuto heard Orochimaru gasp, and when he turned to him, his deranged expression became even wilder.

"H-how a-are you doing th-this…?" Sasuke managed to choke out.

Hands still outstretched, Kaiya laughed as her emerald eyes glinted excitedly. Again and again, Sasuke tried to break free of this power, but it was futile.

"It's my chakra," Kaiya answered, a hint of triumph alive in her tone.

"H-how…?"

"Fool; this should be of no surprise to you; do you not remember what clan I'm from?" she laughed. "I can control all the water around me; in the air, in nearby creeks, puddles, rivers, oceans, in plants and, even in humans," she explained. "It started with the healing jutsu that my mother taught me. A year before the massacre, she taught me how to harness the chakra inside of me to control the water. Learning from my father, a medical ninja, she had learnt how to use her chakra to heal others, but only on a small scale. She explained to me that water has natural healing properties, and is all around us, no matter where we are. So one day, I thought I'd put this theory into practice. Year by year, I could control bigger things that contained water; first, water itself, then plants, mice, trees, dogs, and finally, humans."

Sasuke's memory flashed back to the day where they first met and where she had used this unholy power on him, then again to when he found her locked up, begging for water and healing her deep wound in a matter of seconds.

_She's dangerous… Controlling water? That's like controlling life itself!_ Sasuke shuddered at such a thought. Completely immobilized, all he could do was sit and wait for the end to come.

Kabuto examined the scene and Kaiya's speech.

_She's definitely the single most powerful ninja I have ever met… If she learns to harness her skills, she could literally become the most powerful ninja in history!_

"This is perfect!" Orochimaru hissed from beside him.

Kabuto turned to him, confused. "My lord?"

Orochimaru's eyes flashed with excitement.

"My lord, I'm afraid I—"

"—Kabuto, remember how our last attempt at destroying the retchid Hidden Leaf had failed?"

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**DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN!**

**_Oh no! What's going to happen to Sasuke?_**

**_And why is Orochimaru so interested on Kaiya?_**

**_And why has he mentioned his last attempt at destroying Konoha?_**

**_What's going to happen?_**

**_Will Sasuke ever be freed from Kaiya's grip?_**

**_Will she drain his chakra for her own selfish purpose?  
_**

**Well, the real reason I ended this chapter is because I am suffering from stress and writers block, not because I wanted to end with a cliffhanger. And because this was one of those chapters where you had to try and make it flow to the next one, which you know exactly how is gonna be written.**

**And if you don't know what Orochimaru is talking about, tune in to the next chapter to find out.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!**

**I swear on my mother's grave that it will such a fantastic ending!**

**And thank you to all those who have been reading and reviewing! PLEASE DON'T STOP!**

**Peace, xx**


	8. Double Crossed

**So now I have exactly 604 hits and 14 reviews, so… THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I was starting to have doubts that people had lost interest, but thanks to all those who have stuck by me and my story.**

**And this is, like I have said a million times, going to get a bajillion times better!**

**So keep reading!**

**ENJOY!**

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Episode 8 – DOUBLE CROSSED

"Say again, my lord?"

Orochimaru was still focused on the fight down below. Kaiya now had Sasuke completely immobilized with her ability to control water with her chakra.

"And now, the end is near," Kaiya mocked sadly. She maneuvered her hands and fingers in the air and Sasuke's body obeyed.

"Not… yet... it's not!" Sasuke choked out.

Kaiya smirked triumphantly. "Guess again, Sasuke. Take a look at where you are."

Sasuke, confused, lowered his gaze to the floor and gasped.

_She had planned this all along!_

Sasuke was right dead center of the summoning circle he was chained to earlier. His heart began to race and he started to sweat profusely.

"This is it!" Kabuto stuttered. "She's… she's done it!"

Orochimaru was still eerily fixated and excited on the battle.

Kaiya slowly walked over to Sasuke, only one hand clenched at waist height; the one controlling Sasuke. The other was conjuring up complicated hand signs.

_I've never seen fingers bend that way before…_

She raised her hand slowly until it came to rest a few inches above Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke's eyes were wide with horror. His sharingan had faded and were replaced with desperate, onyx eyes.

"Relinquishing Jutsu…!" she whispered just loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

Kabuto's eyes widened in shock.

"This is it, my lord!" he whispered triumphantly.

Orochimaru ignored him. Kabuto turned to face him.

"My lor—" Kabuto cut short as he saw Orochimaru muttering to himself, his eyes unblinking, and his hands moving quickly.

_Hand signs?_

A howl of pain and defeat rose from below. Kabuto looked down and saw Sasuke's chakra rising up like an aura from his forehead and into Kaiya's hand. Sasuke's eyes were wide and glazed over, his midnight black hair suspended in mid-air, his arms still and feeble by his sides, his mouth agape and howling. The sickening howl sent shivers up and down Kabuto's spine.

"It's all over…" Kabuto muttered.

Finally, Orochimaru spoke. "Hn, not quite…" he muttered, his eyes now calm with a hint of triumph.

Sasuke was going in and out of consciousness. All he could see was the beautiful girl he met fade in and out, much like his love for her. Then, everything goes black, the last thing he sees are her emerald eyes, glinting in the light of his stolen chakra.

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling shriek of pain pierces the air. Sasuke feels the titanium grip of her jutsu vanish in an instant. He sways and falls onto the concrete floor, drained and confused.

Sasuke tried to focus his eyes, but it is not all that easy. When they come to focus, he saw Kaiya writhing in tremendous agony on the floor beside him, clutching the side of her neck, her eyes squeezed shut, shrieking over and over.

Sasuke made no effort to get up, but just to watch her writhe in pain. It sparked hatred within him to see her in so much pain, but from what she had recently done to him, he had no idea what to do.

He slowly moved his eyes around the room to see what had caused her so much pain.

Orochimaru was standing a few feet away from her, his index and middle finger raised to his lips.

Kabuto joined him and clicked his fingers. His clones appeared and apprehended Sasuke, pulling him to his feet with ease as he made no attempt to fight them off. He was too weak.

_She drained a lot of my chakra… I'm so weak… But it looks like she didn't get all of it…_

"Calm down, my dear," Orochimaru hissed.

Kaiya continued to writhe in pain on the floor. Suddenly, black tattoo marks, much like Sasuke's, swarmed over her skin and covered her entire body.

Sasuke suddenly realized what Orochimaru was doing.

_He… He's controlling her through the curse-mark!_

Kabuto, being confused, had now figured it all out too.

After a few moments, Kaiya had stopped writhing in pain and stumbled to her feet, one hand still clamped over her curse-mark. Her shiny black hair was tangled and wild about her bruised and scratched face.

"W-what did you… do… to me…?" she choked out, still breathing heavily from the pain and shrieking.

Orochimaru's malicious laugh echoed off the stone walls before he finally narrowed his eyes at Kaiya.

"I have something else in mind for _you_, child," he said, lowering his fingers from his face.

Kaiya was still heaving. Sasuke struggled to keep his eyes open and focused.

"W-what do you m-mean?" she breathed.

"We are going to destroy the Hidden Leaf village!" he rasped maliciously.

Sasuke's mouth gaped open, as did Kaiya's. Desperate, she bolted and made a run for the door. Orochimaru again raised his two fingers to his lips and cried, "Obey!" as Kabuto's clones swarmed around Kaiya.

Her body stopped right in its path. Not on her own accord, but by Orochimaru's. The clones approached her and apprehended her.

"_You double crossed me_!" she screamed, the anger alive in her eyes.

"No, child. You see, you are quite powerful. And a powerful ninja like you will never come my way ever again, so I sought to seize the moment and make it my own," he explained.

"_You bastard_!"

"Now now, there's no need for that," he condescended. "I control all the chakra in your body now. You can't escape me." Another laughed escaped his skinny lips.

Orochimaru's gaze moved to Sasuke.

"Chain him up," he ordered coldly. Sasuke tried to writhe in anger; not by the fact that he was going to chain him to a wall, but the fact that Orochimaru was about to toss Sasuke aside, without so much as a goodbye.

But he was way too weak to break the grip of the clones as they chained him to the far wall.

When Sasuke looked up, Orochimaru was conjuring hand signs. Kaiya had again dropped to the floor, writhing in pain and screaming, when suddenly, she stopped. She rose to her feet. Her eyes were now fully red; no pupil, no iris, just a burning red.

"Let us go," Orochimaru said, heading for the door. The clones disappeared as the three of them headed to the exit.

* * *

**MWUAHAHAHA!**

**ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!**

**Hopefully, this keeps you interested.**

**And don't worry, as soon as I post this one, I will start the next episode. But it may not be posted as I have to go to a 21****st**** in two and a half hours.**

**But that should be enough time to type and post another, ay? ;)**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Peace, xx**


	9. He's Back

**So, I hoped the last chapter captured your interest.**

**I promise you're going to love it from here on out!**

**ENJOY!**

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Episode 9 – HE'S BACK

_How could I let this happen?_ Sasuke thought to himself sadly.

_The first time I feel this way for a girl, and it almost ends up with me being killed. What have you gotten yourself into, Sasuke?_

Sasuke hung from the walls in silence. Kaiya, Orochimaru and Kabuto were now long gone.

Sasuke was covered in bruises, cuts and scratches. His left arm was broken from being thrown into the wall twice during the battle. His chakra was nearly at absolute zero. He was far too weak to move; not even strong enough to execute an escape jutsu.

Taking one last look around the room, he closed his eyes and wallowed in defeat.

For what seemed like an eternity, a small, gruff voice broke the silence.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and saw no one.

_I… I recognize that voice…_

"Down here!" the mysterious person – dog? – growled.

Sasuke looked down.

"…Pakkun?"

"Oh, you're alive, good," he growled softly, examining Sasuke's severely beaten body.

He sniffed.

"Ha, I never thought I'd see an Uchiha look so pathetic… Must've been some fight. Where has all your chakra gone?" Pakkun questioned suspiciously.

Sasuke flinched at Pakkun's remark.

"I'll explain later, Pakkun. Just get me out of here," Sasuke grumbled.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Sasuke had never realized how good it was to be free of something. He secretly indulged in the fresh air as the cool wind whipped his face and hair as he and Pakkun raced through the trees.

Pakkun had given Sasuke a few food pills to get his strength up and had helped Sasuke put his arm into a sling by tearing off part of Sasuke's robe to do so.

Pakkun's expression was tainted with worry as Sasuke had told him everything that had happened, including Orochimaru's plan to destroy Konoha.

"I see…" he muttered as they continued to race though the trees.

"How did you find me, anyway?" Sasuke questioned.

"The elders of the village came to the Hokage and few days ago, both bearing a hunch that Orochimaru was to return. The Hokage had asked Kakashi to send me to gather intelligence on his plan. Finding you was just a bonus," Pakkun explained.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Sasuke and Pakkun had finally reached the gates to the Hidden Leaf, surprisingly, before Orochimaru, Kabuto and Kaiya. He then thought that they must be preparing for their invasion.

Kakashi greeted them at the gate, his expression altering as it came to rest on Sasuke. He walked over to him hastily.

"Why are _you_ here?" Kakashi demanded softly, his eyes darting back and forth to make sure no one had spotted Sasuke.

Kakashi examined Sasuke's battle wounds.

"Hmm… Never mind; first, we will get you some medical attention for those wounds and that broken arm," Kakashi offered, before Sasuke had a chance to explain. "I've also sensed that you're chakra has dwindled down to almost absolute zero. Must've been some fight…"

"Thanks," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"There," the nurse said cheerfully. "You're wounds are all attended to. All you need to do is rest up, got it?"

Sasuke thanked the nurse as she headed for the door.

Kakashi stood up and stopped her. He instructed her not to reveal to anyone that Sasuke Uchiha has returned to the village. She agreed and left.

"So what's Orochimaru's plan?" Kakashi asked Sasuke quietly. He didn't answer.

"He's planning to attack the village, using someone else to do all of the dirty-work for him," Pakkun answered.

"Who?"

Sasuke still wouldn't answer.

"She's a new addition to Orochimaru's assets. From what Sasuke has told me, and by looking at him, she is extremely powerful and dangerous. She is not to be underestimated. Her name is Kaiya Shizuoka, and she has a vast array of deadly jutsu in her arson, and she is not afraid to use them. Although, Sasuke has told me that she is under Orochimaru's control."

"Under his control? How?"

Pakkun and Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who was deliberately staring out the window, trying to hide his hurt expression.

"A curse-mark, so there's no telling how powerful she could really be if she's being controlled by Orochimaru," Pakkun answered.

Kakashi's eyes widened, and then softened.

"So, she's had history with him, hm? Guess we should alert the Hokage as soon as possible," he said solemnly.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

_Knock knock knock._

"Come in!" Lady Tsunade replied. She was patiently awaiting their arrival at her desk, along with Shizune, Sakura and a few members of the ANBU black ops by her sides.

Lady Tsunade's hard expression didn't diminish when it came to rest on Sasuke, who was tagging behind Kakashi as they entered her office. Lady Tsunade looked up at Sakura from the corner of her eye, who had stiffened up as the boy she had once dearly loved walk through that door. Shizune couldn't help but look at Sasuke with sad eyes.

"Nice to see you finally grace us with your presence," Lady Tsunade spat sarcastically at Sasuke. He just glared at her.

"So, were the elders correct about their hunch?" she asked Kakashi, her tone now serious.

He nodded as he and Sasuke sat down in the seats provided. Sakura wouldn't meet Sasuke's gaze.

"And why did you bring _him_ back?" she said, shooting a nasty glance at Sasuke. "Your mission was to send Pakkun only to gather intelligence about Orochimaru's plan to destroy the village. Sasuke cannot be trusted."

Kakashi immediately came to Sasuke's defense.

"Sasuke is no longer working for Orochimaru," he said.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she flinched at this news.

Lady Tsunade narrowed her eyes menacingly at Sasuke.

"How can you be sure of this?" she argued.

Sasuke was tempted to jump from his seat and smack Lady Tsunade across the face, but he resisted.

"I'm not."

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi in bewilderment.

_He's defending me? After all I've done?_

Lady Tsunade refused to argue anymore. She rose from her seat.

"We are late for the meeting with the elders. Come," she said, heading toward the door.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Sasuke was seated at the huge, rectangular table along with the two elders, the Hokage, Kakashi, Sakura, several ANBU ops, and several Konoha Defense personnel. Two of the ANBU were standing right behind Sasuke's seat, as he "cannot be trusted."

Everyone in the room was trying not to stare at Sasuke. Some were whispering as he had entered the room with Kakashi.

Sakura stared at Sasuke, who was seated directly in front of him. Her expression only expressed slight shock and much anger.

"I have summoned you all here today because we are lead to believe that Orochimaru is secretly planning to again wreak havoc on our village," she said slowly.

Hushed, frantic whispers filled the room. Tsunade ignored them and continued.

Sakura stared at Sasuke intently. _How did he receive such wounds? And where has all his chakra gone? I can barely sense any of it… And more importantly, why has he come back? To help? That's not like Sasuke at all…_

"As we all remember from our village's last encounter, Orochimaru will not rest until he sees the destruction of the Hidden Leaf. Such a rumour is to be treated with all seriousness and sorted out immediately."

More hushed whispers.

"First off, we have no knowledge of who Orochimaru has recruited, whether how strong he or she is, his or her origin, nor of the powers he or she may possess. This is why we need to seek action as soon as possible."

"What can we do? What ever it is, Lady Hokage, you name it," one of the Hidden Leaf personnel said promptly as he saluted her.

Lady Tsunade turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I need you in my office, now," she said. She then turned to face the rest of the people. "As for everyone else, meet back here in one hour with all the people you deem fit for this mission. Assemble anyone and everyone you can. We need half on defense and the rest on offense. This is serious, people!"

"What about the people?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade had forgotten about that.

"We shall not alert the people until we can be sure of when and how Orochimaru will attack the village. Kakashi, you and Iruka will recruit 50 other Jonin when the time calls for evacuation. Until then, no one is to speak a word of this to anyone!"

Immediately, the whole room dismissed and left to go recruit others.

"Sakura, I will see you in my office too."

Sakura was stunned. "But, m'lady—"

"Now, Sakura!" she boomed as she left; Shizune, Sasuke, Kakashi and two ANBU trailing behind her.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

A few minutes later, they were gathered in Lady Tsunade's office. The tension was extremely thick. Sakura was growing angrier by every second she was in the same presence as Sasuke. But she still couldn't meet his smoldering, onyx eyes. But right now, this didn't bother Tsunade one bit.

They all sat in silence as Sasuke had finished confessing all he knew about Kaiya and Orochimaru's plans.

"Kaiya?" Tsunade echoed. Sasuke nodded. "Hmm… She was here a few weeks ago requesting you for a mission… Ah, never mind. She's no more than a threat now, although she seems quite powerful; unlike anything we've ever dealt with before," Tsunade muttered, slightly stunned at the possibilities of Kaiya's strength.

Lady Tsunade turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, under no circumstances are you to tell Naruto that Sasuke has returned. Do you hear me?"

Sakura gasped. "But, m'lady—"

"—No buts, Sakura," Tsunade snapped, cutting Sakura off. "We need Naruto focused if he is to help with the take down of Orochimaru and Kaiya. I don't want them to see each other, let alone know of each others presence. That's an order."

Sakura's expression turned cold and hard. "Naruto… has every right to know that Sasuke is back," she spat slowly.

Tsunade glared at Sakura, but Sakura glared just as hard back.

"Naruto may not be able to handle it," Tsunade said slowly, but nastily.

Sasuke scowled up at Sakura, trying to tempt her with his suave, onyx eyes. "You better listen to her, Sak—"

"YOU SHUT UP!" Sakura shouted, and with that, in a flash she vaulted over Tsunade's desk with one hand and delivered a mighty punch to Sasuke's face. The wooden door shattered into a million pieces as Sasuke flew through it and collided with the wall in the hallway.

When Sasuke looked up, Sakura was breathing heavily, her eyes wild with rage. Her outstretched fist was shaking. She then began to stride slowly toward Sasuke. She reached down and picked him up by the scruff of the neck and pulled him close, so her mouth was just touching his ear. The fear in Sasuke rose slightly as he felt Sakura's hot breath down the side of his neck.

"Now hear this: I don't care about the fact that you've come back. I don't care that you're not working for Orochimaru anymore, but I swear that I will be telling Naruto you're here, and if you so much as try to rise up _any_ unfinished business from the past, I _swear_ that I will finish you, _understand_?"

Sasuke said nothing; he just stared at her in utter shock. Her green eyes were aflame and tears of anger slowly formed in the corners of her eyes.

_She… she hit me…? I… I thought after all these years that she would be at least… a little happy to see me… I guess I really didn't know how much influence I had on her…_

Sakura dropped Sasuke back on the ground, hard, and stormed off.

* * *

Sakura slowly trudged the busy streets of the village, her heart filled with hurt, confusion, anger, sadness and relief. People pushed past, but she ignored them.

_I can't believe that after all these years… After all the training… After all the searching… He… He's finally back… I-I don't believe it…_

Memories of the days when Sasuke was still apart of Team 7 flooded her thoughts. The memories that played over and over were the ones where Sasuke had stepped in to protect her; such a gesture was not expected of Sasuke, even in battle. Then, all the memories of the Chuunin Exams plagued her thoughts; the evil, purple chakra rising from within Sasuke, the black tattoo flames covering his entire body, the evil in his eyes was unrecognizable. And, that fateful night when he had left forever was still vivid in her thoughts. Up until a few months ago, this memory played in her mind every day, until she had learned to shut it out completely and start anew. No more would she wait on Sasuke to return. Naruto was still determined as ever, but unlike him, her heart was tired of hurting, and tired of being mended and broken, over and over. You could say that nowadays, even the slightest mention of Sasuke didn't interest her at all. You could even say that she despised him; her love for him diminishing down to almost nothing.  
Long gone were her fantasies of Sasuke suddenly appearing at the gates, begging for forgiveness; the ones where Sasuke would appear on her windowsill at night, stating that he escaped from Orochimaru and came back for her; the ones where Naruto would go off on a mission and unexpectedly return with Sasuke by his side, their hatred for each other gone.  
Every day since her beloved Sasuke left her, she swore to herself that the day he came back, no matter how many years it had been, no matter what he had done, no matter whom he had killed or no matter how much he had changed, she would still welcome Sasuke in with open arms.  
Instead, she greeted him with a sweet left hook to the face and a nasty speech. She wanted to feel the love she once felt for him again, but she knew better. She wasn't the same, naïve pinkette she was three years ago.

"Sakura!" a high pitched, familiar voice shouted, snapping Sakura from her thoughts. She looked up to see the always beautiful Ino running up to her. Sakura immediately shook her mind of these thoughts and focused on Ino.

"Hey Sakura! You busy later?" she asked cheerfully, flicking her long blonde fringe from her blue eyes.

"Kinda, why?" she giggled, the sadness disappearing from her voice. Ino's face fell.

"Oh… Well I was wondering if you had time to come down to the flower shop and help me bring in the new season's flowers…" she said, her gaze falling to the dirt beneath their feet.

Sakura giggled again. "Sure! I'd love to help! But I'll be down there in about half an hour; I promised Naruto I'd meet him at Ichiraku's for some ramen."

Ino's smile returned. "Thanks, Sakura!" she chirped as she turned to leave. "I'll seeya then!" she called as she ran back in the direction from which she came.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Sakura!" Naruto beamed as Sakura ducked under the canvas flaps of Ichiraku's Ramen shop. His bright smile and the way his blue eyes sparkled every time he saw Sakura never failed to make her smile. "What took you so long?" he demanded. Her smile fell.

"Oh… I, uh, had an important meeting with Lady Tsunade, I'm sorry I was so long…" she said softly, the punch she had delivered to Sasuke still fresh in her mind.

Naruto giggled softly. "Nah, don't worry about it!" he assured as Sakura sat down beside him. "Oh, by the way, I kinda ordered for you. I hope that's okay…" he said, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Naruto broke it. He had noticed the way Sakura was tuned out to the world around her, the way she did when she was upset.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked softly, resting his hand on Sakura's shoulder.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at him. "Hm? O-oh, I'm sorry Naruto," she stuttered, flicking a whisp of her hair from her eyes. Her gaze then returned to her half eaten bowl. "I'm fine."

Naruto refused to believe it. "Sakura, I've known you for years, I can tell when you're upset…" he said sympathetically. She looked up at him, her eyes now filled with sadness, his blue eyes burrowing their way into hers.

Sakura hesitated.

_It would kill him if he never knew Sasuke was here… I can't keep that from him, it'd destroy him. He's been so determined to find Sasuke… He's never given up. His training has increased over the past year. He can't be this close to Sasuke and not know it…_

"…He's back…" she muttered.

Naruto blinked and tilted his head slightly, the way he always did when he was confused.

"Who's back…?" he asked slowly.

"Naruto…" Sakura stammered slowly and deliberately, now turning to meet his confused eyes. "_He's_ back…"

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed that!**

**So what happens now?**

**Will Sakura forgive Sasuke for leaving?**

**What will Naruto do?**

**Can Naruto look past everything that has happened between him and Sasuke and focus on defeating Orochimaru?**

**Will Sasuke heed Sakura's cruel warning and not arise any unfinished business between him and Naruto?**

**Tune in to the next chapter to find out!**

**P.S - thankyou to ALL the loverly peoples out there who have been reading and posting reviews! I greatly appreciate it!**

**Peace, xx  
**


	10. Suspense, And A Confession

**I got SO many reviews from the last 2 chapters I posted!**

**THANKYOU TO ALL!**

**And thankyou to my best friend, who just so happens to have an account and I only just found out now -_- haha.**

**So I hope you guys like this one! (fuck, I say that every single time, ay?) haha.**

**ENJOYYYYY!**

**

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Episode 10 – SUSPENSE, AND A CONFESSION

Sakura had begged Naruto to not leave until she had explained the whole situation to him. Naruto sat there, his eyes not leaving his half-eaten bowl of ramen, which had now gone cold. He never said a word as Sakura told him everything in a hushed whisper, fearing the man and daughter who owned the shop would overhear.

When she had finished, Naruto was still silent.

"Naruto?" she said softly, placing her hand on his, which were flat on the table either side of his ramen bowl.

"Hn… So he's really back, isn't he?" he muttered, his expression unchanging.

They were silent for a few more moments.

"W-why?" Naruto whispered, his voice hinting a tone of sadness.

"I don't really know… All I know is that apparently he isn't working for Orochimaru anymore, and I guess he just came back to warn us," Sakura muttered.

"No, no, no, I got that; it's just that… _why_ would he come to warn us?" Naruto said, a little louder this time, turning to look in Sakura's eyes. His cerulean eyes were wide and plagued with confusion and sadness.

"I-I don't really know…" Sakura muttered to herself, her eyes breaking Naruto's gaze.

Suddenly, Naruto pushed out his stool, turned, and left without uttering a single word.

"N-Naruto? Naruto! Hey, come back!" Sakura called, jumping up from her stool.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the cold, hard bench in his jail cell. The small window in the middle of the wall provided little pure light, the rest was artificial.

He rested his head on the brick wall, his head slightly tilted so he could gaze out of the tiny window. The cell was cold, but it didn't bother him. Tsunade had ordered Sasuke to stay locked up until she could figure out two things; Orochimaru's battle plan, and if Sasuke really had returned to save Konoha and wasn't conspiring against them. His weapons were confiscated and stored in Tsunade's office. On the floor was a half eaten tray of poorly prepared food; just enough to get Sasuke by for the next meal.

Sasuke closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze from outside float in every so often. It was so weird to be back home, to where it had all begun. He wasn't really sure why he had decided to help the Hidden Leaf. Well, he did know, he was just surprised at why he had decided to help.

Suddenly, Sasuke picked up the light sound of footsteps echoing of the walls, scraping closer and closer until they grew louder and then stopped.

Sasuke still didn't open his eyes.

"So, you're really here, hm?" a scratchy, familiar voice asked flatly.

Sasuke knew that voice anywhere. He opened his eyes slowly and turned his head to see, yes, none other than Naruto standing there. He was trying to bear cold eyes, but Sasuke could detect the hurt and confusion within them, hands down.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Just had to come see if the rumors were true," Naruto muttered, moving his gaze away from Sasuke to the floor beside him.

Sasuke was stunned to see how surprised and calm Naruto was, but he had a fear that Naruto would snap at any second if he didn't say anything to acknowledge him.

"Hey, knuckle-head," Sasuke said.

Naruto flinched. "Don't you _dare_ call me that," he spat.

A few moments of silence passed.

"Why are you here?" Naruto said, reaching up to grasp one of the iron bars that separated the two former friends.

Sasuke uttered a short 'ha'. "Didn't Sakura tell you?"

"Yeah, she did…" Naruto muttered.

"Well?"

"What I don't get is why you chose to stay here and help, you know? I-I'm really confused, Sasuke," Naruto admitted sadly, still avoiding Sasuke's onyx eyes.

Sasuke sighed. "It's complicated…"

Naruto pressed on.

"Are you going to help us defend the village?" Naruto blurted out, his voice cracking slightly.

Sasuke rose from the cold, hard bench and walked over to Naruto, their bodies about half a meter apart.

_I don't remember the last time we were this close to each other without trying to tear each other to shreds,_ Naruto thought.

"I can't say why, Naruto, but believe me when I say that I am here to help," Sasuke said slowly, gripping the horizontal iron bar infront of his waist.

Naruto's cerulean eyes buried into Sasuke's onyx eyes, which for the first time, showed any kind of honesty or compassion. Naruto suddenly leaned in so their faces were inches apart.

"I'm not ready to forgive you Sasuke, but you know as well as I do when I say that I will put my life on the line to protect this village and the people in it. We are going to need all the help we can get, but—"

Naruto paused; the pace of his eyes transforming from sad to cold and deadly was something to behold,

"—if you so much as put one toe out of line; make one single slip up, or do anything to harm any soul within this village, I will end you myself," he snarled.

Sasuke looked down to see that Naruto had held his hand out, open. Sasuke, without much hesitation, reached out and clasped his hand with Naruto's, briefly shaking it.

"Good," Naruto whispered, his voice and eyes returning to normal. He pulled away, turned around and walked out.

* * *

A few days later, Tsunade had figured out a plan of attack minutes before an ANBU op appeared in her office, reporting they had seen sightings of Orochimaru, Kabuto and Kaiya about 15 kilometers from the village gates.

She then ordered Kakashi and Iruka to begin the safe evacuation of the village's people into the secret rooms in the cliff behind the Great Hokage Faces.

An hour later, Kakashi had appeared in Tsunade's office. She shot him an annoyed glance.

"I thought I sent you to go evacuate the people!" she shouted, slamming her hand down on the desk.

Kakashi raised his hand to calm and silence her. "That's all taken care of; Iruka has taken charge of the 50 jonin assisting in the evacuation. All is going according to plan," he assured her in his soft, always calm voice.

She sighed and leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes.

"I have another mission for you anyway," Tsunade said, opening her eyes and leaning forward onto her desk.

"And what's that?"

"Gather all the young ninja; Sakura, Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, all of them. Pull them aside and brief them on what is to be required of them. Sakura is to avoid any strenuous combat as she will be required to heal any hurt ninja around her. And, you are to keep an eye on Naruto at all times, Kakashi. I've heard that he knows that Sasuke has returned. Though I don't know if they've spoken to each other since Sasuke arrived. Just keep your eye on him," she ordered, her hands clasped in front of her face.

Kakashi nodded. "And what about Sasuke?"

* * *

Kakashi was alarmed to find Sasuke missing from his cell. In fears that Sasuke had escaped and was actually conspiring against Konoha, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, searching for Sasuke.

Before his panic could grow, he spied Sasuke sitting on a tree limb about 500 meters from the jail.

Kakashi leapt up the tree and took a spot next to Sasuke, who was leaning against the trunk, staring off into the distance.

"You okay?" Sasuke's former sensei questioned.

Sasuke didn't respond. Kakashi looked down at Sasuke's lap to see him fiddling with silver, heart shaped locket.

_How strange…_

"The village is preparing to go into battle. We need you," Kakashi informed, trying not to sound pushy.

A few moments of silence passed; time that should have not been wasted.

"It's all my fault," Sasuke muttered, still refusing to face Kakashi.

As respectful as ever to his former student, Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke, what ever happened up until now is in the past. Don't dwell on it. Right now, you need to focus on—"

"—I can't do this," Sasuke muttered sadly.

Kakashi pressed on. "Sasuke, focus. We need yo—"

"—Don't you get it?" Sasuke replied bitterly. "I can't do this!" he said shrilly, still refusing to meet Kakashi's gaze.

_He certainly is as stubborn as ever,_ Kakashi thought bitterly.

* * *

The alarm had sounded across the village that Orochimaru was about 5 kilometers from the village. This time, the news about his presence was graver.

"Lady Hokage," the ANBU black op said hastily as he reappeared in her office. "Orochimaru is 5 kilometers from the Main Gate,"

"What? _Five_ kilometers? He was 15 kilometers away 10 minutes ago!" Tsunade shouted in disbelief.

"He… he has a-an army, m'lady…" the ANBU black op stuttered, flinching at his stutter.

Tsunade's eyes grew wide with shock.

"An _army_?"

The black op nodded. "It's a clone army, m'lady. Hundreds, no, thousands of clones of the young ninja he had recruited. They… they just appeared out of nowhere…"

Tsunade slammed her fist on the table and shot out of her seat. A stack of papers beside her toppled over onto the floor.

"Alarm your men, now! Alarm all the jonin on defense and offense to spread out to all corners of the village and prepare for battle! We've let Orochimaru get too close to the village walls! And tell them that Kaiya is to be killed on site! Go, NOW!" she boomed, both hands spread out on her desk.

The ANBU black op saluted and immediately vanished in a puff of white smoke.

Tsunade lowered her head and closed her eyes. _We underestimated him…_

_

* * *

_

The alarm sounded overhead. Kakashi looked up.

"Come on," he said, standing up and turning to leave. "We're wasting time we haven't got."

"How can I be forced to kill someone that I love?" Sasuke responded miserably, looking up at a stunned Kakashi.

* * *

**Wow, ay?**

**Sasuke actually has feelings for a girl! Ha. I was trying to continue on from there, but it was hard and it looked weird, so I thought I'd leave it at that.**

**What happens now?**

**Will Sasuke join the fight against Kaiya's thousands of clones?**

**Will Naruto forgive Sasuke and allow them to fight side by side?**

**R&R!**

**Peace, xx**


	11. Invasion: Three Against One

**WOO HOO! 808 hits and 20 reviews!**

**I would like to thank the following for their kind reviews:**

_**BrambleAkira101**_

_**Shifuni**_

_**The Legendary Phoenix**_

_**J.W**_

_**Aithre Lenore-Light**_

_**Kakashisnumber1fangirl**_

**You guys have been making this story possible! And don't be afraid to pass this on to others as well!**

**ENJOY!**

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Episode 11 – INVASION: THREE AGAINST ONE

Kakashi stood there for a moment in silence. Sasuke's remark had certainly caught him off guard. A cool breeze rustled the leaves on the trees as the warning alarm continued to sound overhead.

Kakashi let out a silent sigh as he knew very well who Sasuke was talking about.

_Of all the things to happen at a time like this…_

Kakashi never liked to be the bearer of bad news, but he knew all too well of this situation.

"Sasuke, whatever love you have for this girl, I'm afraid you're going to have to let it go," he said sadly, but sternly.

Sasuke looked up at him. He opened his mouth to protest, but Kakashi raised his hand and stopped him.

"Let it go. One of the most important ninja rules is to not let your personal feelings get in the way. It could cloud your judgement and put your own life in serious danger," he said, and with that, he vanished.

Sasuke returned his gaze down to Kaiya's locket in his hand. The silver had lost its shine, and the heart was covered with scratches.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

The siren continued to sound overhead as Sasuke neared the South Wall, in spite of Kakashi's orders to go to the Main Gate.

By the time he reached his destination, Kaiya's clones had the village completely surrounded.

Without hesitation, the clones swarmed up and over the village walls, mercilessly killing everyone in their path. Battle cries from Hidden Leaf shinobi could be heard all around, we well as the clinking of kunais, shirukens and swords. Paper bombs that were littered across the village outskirts were going off like fireworks.

_Let's just hope I find the real Kaiya before anyone else does…_ Sasuke sighed.

* * *

Naruto streamed across the village walls with a kunai in each hand, wiping out clones by the dozens, but they just kept coming.

Out of nowhere, a fist collided with Naruto's cheek and sent him flying onto the concrete roof of a nearby building.

A short cry escaped his lips as his body crashed into the roof, leaving a dust trail behind him. He jumped to his feet as one of the thousands of clones appeared infront of him.

"Leave this village!" Naruto bellowed, preparing for the attack.

Kaiya's clone snorted as she pulled down her black facial mask, revealing a sinister smirk. "Ha! What are you going to do, little rat? _Kill me?_" the amusement in her voice enraged Naruto further. The red eyes of the Nine Tails usurped his natural cerulean eyes; the whiskers on his cheeks grew bolder as he bared his teeth.

"Tch; maybe if you back out, then I won't have to!" Naruto yelled back, his voice becoming more gruff and angry by the second.

The clone took a step closer. "Then I'll just have to kill you instead!"

In a flash, the Kaiya clone leapt at Naruto and knocked him over. Naruto landed on his back and repulsed her attack by kicking her up and over behind him.

The clone caught her balance and charged again, this time, wielding her sword.

Naruto whipped out a kunai and deadlocked with her sword. They whipped around each other and deadlocked a few more times before they both leapt back to their original starting spots.

Naruto was breathing heavily, his red eyes wild with rage. Kaiya hadn't seemed to break a sweat. Naturally, this enraged Naruto.

The red searing, red chakra of the Nine Tails seeped out from his body, forming only one tail. His eyes grew wilder, the black outline around them growing bolder. His bold whiskers grew longer and more rugged, as did his blonde, spiky hair.

As his body submerged into his chakra, his fingers grew slightly longer and bore claws. Naruto grunted heavily with every breath as his teeth grew longer and sharper.

The clone's eyes grew wide with excitement as a grin tugged at the corners of her peach-pink lips.

_Ah… So this is the Nine Tails, hm? Things just got interesting…_

_

* * *

_

Sakura bounded along the streets of Konoha, breathing heavily. Every few feet lay a dead shinobi's body. She would stop to try and heal them, but most were all dead before she had reached them, so she gave up.

The sky was a deep, burnt red. Sakura continued to choke on the smoke that densely covered the village.

She stopped to briefly examine the destruction Kaiya and the army of her clones had caused; dead bodies littered every square meter of the village, weapons lay askew, most buildings had already been demolished in the series of fights against the clones and fires plagued other buildings that hadn't been destroyed yet.

And the scariest part was: barely an hour had passed.

Sakura was about to head on her way again when a clone stopped her at the end of the vandalized street. This one was badly beaten, but still refused to die. It strode toward her threateningly, wild eyed with a twisted smirk plastered on its face.

Sakura resumed her fighting stance. The clone began to pick its pace, and before long, it was charging at Sakura.

She stanced and focused all her chakra to her fists.

"YIIIIIIII-AAH!"

Sakura raised her chakra infused fists and pummeled them into the ground, taking no regard for the destruction of buildings around her, causing huge cracks and debris to race toward the clone.

The clone stopped dead in its tracks and looked up in shock as the enormous chunks of debris showered over her.

* * *

Sasuke had abolished a few hundred of the clones that he sensed, with his sharingan, to be weaker than the others. He knew he would be able to sense the girl he loved, sooner or later. Kaiya would have _had_ to be in the vast array of clones somewhere, and it was just a matter of time before someone else could find her too.

* * *

Kakashi was surrounded by at least 70 clones, all jumping on him, swords outstretched. He had no trouble destroying the clones. But as he continued to fight, more and more clones swarmed over him. He blocked kicks, punches and kunais with the metal spot on the back of his glove-covered hands, but he knew that wasn't going to cut it. If he kept going, the clones would surround him and use that water-control and Relinquishing Jutsu that Sasuke told him about, and that would be the end of him.

Kakashi refused to use his sharingan too early, as it eats up most, if not all, of his chakra. He could not afford to use it.

Clones poofed away and reappeared as Kakashi struggled to find a split second of time. Finally finding a few spare seconds, he conjured up hand signs at phenomenal speed, gripped the wrist of his opened hand and pointed it down to the ground.

"Lightning Blade!"

Silvery-blue lightning sparked out from his hand and grew larger and larger. The shrill sound of his crackling lightning grew high and louder. The clones hesitated for a moment, but continued to swarm over him.

In a split second, Kakashi had wiped out at least a hundred clones; and in due time too; his chakra was almost gone and he was covered in bruises, cuts, scratches and kunais.

But more were headed for him.

* * *

Naruto was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily. His whole body was not under his control anymore. Naruto couldn't figure it out.

_That stupid cloak won't let me hold him down for much longer… I'll have to do get this over and done with now,_ Kaiya's clone thought.

"L-Lemme… g-go!" he rasped, trying to break free of Kaiya's unbreakable water-control jutsu.

"You're finished…" the clone rasped as it uttered an evil laugh. It strode towards him, conjuring hand signs with the free hand. It finally stopped a few inches from his body and held the free hand over Naruto's forehead.

"Relinquishing Jutsu!"

An aura of orange-red bubbling chakra rose from the cloak that protected Naruto and entered the clone's hand.

_Tsssssss…!_

"Ah, fuck!"

The clone jerked away its hand, uttering a growl of frustration, revealing a burn mark on the palm of her hand. Determined, she tried again, this time ignoring the burning pain in her hand as she absorbed Naruto's Nine Tailed Fox chakra.

Naruto closed his eyes uttered a sickening howl as his chakra cloak began to dissolve into the clone's hand. He tried desperately to escape, but he couldn't. Naruto felt his strength disappearing with every passing second. He was tuned out to his surroundings, only hearing himself howling in utter agony.

Suddenly, a drop of warm liquid greeted Naruto on his cheek and made its way down to his neck.

Naruto opened his eyes to see the clone standing above him, eyes wide, and mouth agape. Blood was trickling from both corners of her mouth.

The iron grip on his muscles faded as her hands dropped by her side.

Naruto, loving the fact he had control of his body again, scrambled back and raised his hand to shield out the brightness that was behind the clone.

"K-Kakas-shi…?" Naruto mumbled.

The shrill chirping and blinding light of Kakashi's Lightning Blade faded away. The clone dropped to the ground, lifeless, and then disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

Before Kakashi could speak, a familiar, ear-piercing scream tore through the air.

Naruto gasped as both his and Kakashi's heads turned to the direction from with the scream came from.

"Sakura!"

* * *

The air was silent. The screams, battle cries, and sounds of weapons deadlocking could still be heard in the distance, but the area around him was dead silent. Smoke filled the air as paper bombs went off in the distance. Somewhere nearby, Sasuke heard the devastating crumble of a building collapsing.

Although, something wasn't right.

Sasuke halted and landed on a slanted, red tin roof of a high-rise building, stopping to take a quick breather.

He examined his wounds and flinched at how bad he managed to get himself beaten up. As long as nothing was broken and he still had sufficient chakra, he would last the rest of the battle.

Within earshot, Sasuke heard the familiar pace of high heel boots clonking on the tin roof, growing louder and louder. His heart leapt into his chest as he turned around.

"At last, we meet… again," Kaiya said, just loud enough for him to hear.

* * *

**Yay for cliffhangers!**

**So I hoped you all liked how I wrote about Kaiya's clones battling Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi!**

**I didn't just wanna focus on Sasuke, so I thought I'd give you all a taste of the other battles.**

**The next chapter won't be up for a few days; I'm suffering from writer's block, plus I have an English Oral due next Monday when I get back to school…**

**...  
**

**What happens now?**

**Is Sakura okay?**

**Can Sasuke bring himself to fight Kaiya?**

**And win?**

**Or will his feelings get in the way?**

**And get himself killed?**

**Tune in next time:**

**_CHAPTER 12: SASUKE vs KAIYA_  
**

**Peace, xx**


	12. Sasuke vs Kaiya

**Well, this is the chapter you've all been waiting for!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Enjoyyyyyyyyyy!**

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Episode 12 – SASUKE vs. KAIYA

Sasuke's heart was heavy with a mixture of feelings. Being known for showing no emotions, he had desperately tried to block them out, but as soon as she appeared, they returned in a fluttery rage. There was no way he could bring himself to fight her, let alone kill her; after all, he loves her.

Sasuke examined Kaiya with his sharingan. His heart skipped a beat when he realized it was the real Kaiya. He was overcome with joy, and then deep sorrow.

She was untouched; not a single scratch on her, so he was surely convinced it was her. Her eyes were still that total shade of glowing red; no emerald in sight. She had her mask pulled up over her nose. She looked calm and prepared, unlike Sasuke.

"You don't have to do this," Sasuke said slowly and deliberately.

Kaiya gave no reply as she began to walk forward. Sasuke swallowed hard as a bead of sweat trickled down his temple.

Her black, high heel boots clonked on the slanted, red tin roof steadily as she walked right up to Sasuke. He immediately took a step back and turned side on.

"Aw, come on, Sasuke," she said sultrily, pulling down her mask and revealing a sexy smile playing on her lips. Her red eyes vanished, revealing her familiar, beautiful, emerald eyes. "After all this time, you're not happy to see me?"

Sasuke gulped as she was now standing inches from him. Her sweet, intoxicating scent filtered through his nostrils and sent shivers down his spine. Oh, how he missed being this close to her.

"I know you've missed me," she whispered into his ear. She then ran her slender fingers down his firm chest. He shuddered at her soft touch.

Sasuke then grabbed her wrist, pulled her hand off his chest and pulled her close.

"I have no time for games," he hissed, flicking Kaiya's arm away. She stood back, faking a hurt expression on her beautiful, tanned face. She turned and walked a few steps before stopping and cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Oh, Sasuke," she sighed mockingly. "I thought you loved me."

She turned so she was facing Sasuke front on, her emerald eyes flashing.

Sasuke's anger came to a boil. He drew his sword and lowered it menacingly toward Kaiya.

Her tauntingly, playful smirk vanished as she narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. Kaiya then reached for her sword and duplicated Sasuke's actions.

"Fine," she grunted.

And with that, both lovers charged at each other, bearing nothing but weapons and determination.

* * *

Naruto, ignoring the fact that he was badly beaten and beyond exhausted, ran into the direction to where he had heard Sakura scream. Although, it was just like the blind leading the blind, but that didn't stop him. His lungs were burning and his head was pounding as he weaved through the devastated streets, desperate to find Sakura still alive.

* * *

Kaiya swiftly dodged Sasuke's first blow by ducking, and then flipping when he drew his sword down on her.

As she landed, Sasuke was already in the air above her, his sword raised above his head. Kaiya disappeared in an instant and reappeared about 10 feet behind Sasuke.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widened in shock as he spun around.

"That all you got?" Kaiya called loudly back to Sasuke.

Sasuke turned around coolly and faced her. She was standing with one her hand on her hip, and her other resting her sword on her shoulder. She slightly tilted her head; her playful smirk danced on her lips.

Sasuke glared at Kaiya as she slid her sword back into her case at her waist. She then pulled out two kunais, stanced and narrowed her eyes at Sasuke.

Before Sasuke could even blink, she charged at him, throwing punches, slices and kicks. One lucky kick knocked the sword out of his hands. It slid across the tin roof and onto the street below. He cursed himself for being so careless against such a strong opponent.

Sasuke deflected some of Kaiya's blows, while others connected with his body, but he managed to hold his own.

Sasuke also threw kicks and punches. They managed to hit each other a somewhat even number of times. Sasuke grew tired of this and back-flipped back to his original fighting spot.

"Aw, what's wrong, Sasuke?" Kaiya taunted, losing her stance and returning to the pose with her hand on her hip. "Can't fight a girl?"

* * *

"Sakura?" Naruto panted as he came across the pinkette lying flat on her back at the opposite end in the middle of the street, Kakashi following closely behind him.

She didn't respond.

"Sakura!"

Naruto, despite being exhausted from the run to find her, he sprinted to her, and skidded on his knees to her side. He examined her wounds before even laying a hand on her. There was a huge bloodstain in the middle of her abdomen. A river of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She was covered in hundreds of cuts and bruises.

Naruto's eyes grew wide in fears she may already be dead.

* * *

"AAARRH!"

Sasuke leapt in the air, infused his chakra into his fist, and threw a punch from above down onto Kaiya. Casually, she leapt out of its path and Sasuke tore through the tin roof, landing hard on the stone floor beneath him.

His body bounced, hard, and skidded on the floor against a wall.

Kaiya leapt down through the hole and landed in a crouched position. She quickly rummaged through her thigh-pouch and whipped out four kunai knives and flicked them toward Sasuke.

_BOOOOOM!_

The paper bombs attached to the kunais exploded in a violent blast. Kaiya stood up, shielding her eyes from the dust with one hand, triumphantly examining her efforts.

Out of the blue, Sasuke leapt out from the dust cloud, and gripped himself around Kaiya's waist, sending both of them crashing through the stone wall behind her and onto the street below.

…_What the—?_ "Ooof!"

They landed hard and separated due to the impact. Sasuke slid to the left of the street and Kaiya slid to the right.

Suddenly remembering, Sasuke quickly leapt to his feet and rummaged around to find his sword.

Blinded by the dust and debris from blasting them both through the wall, it was difficult to find.

Getting frantic, Sasuke finally felt a stinging sensation in his left palm. He jerked it back, but then reached out again, hoping it to be his sword.

It was.

The smoke overhead from the explosions all around the village became thicker and darker. Sasuke concentrated on breathing steadily to avoid choking.

As the dust cleared, he saw Kaiya stumbling and picking her sorry self up from the dirt. She had a deep gash on her upper right arm. She gripped it as she stood up. Blood seeped from in-between her slender fingers.

"Didn't expect that…" she muttered to herself.

Coolly, she assumed her fighting stance. She seemed to limp a bit as she repositioned herself.

She drew her sword with her bloody hand and again, charged at Sasuke.

Sasuke swiftly threw his sword at her as a distraction and quickly conjured up hand signs.

"Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!"

He poised his curled fist to his lips and let loose. A huge fireball, bigger than he'd ever summoned before, engulfed the emerald eyes girl, her face wide in shock, and her defenses, down.

A horrible shriek tore from Kaiya's throat as the flames spooled around her entire body.

* * *

After violently shaking her, Sakura woke up, startled by Naruto's actions.

"…Naruto? Kakashi?" she whispered, her eyes blinking. Naruto's eyes welled with tears and a relieved smile crossed his lips as he pulled Sakura close into a hug. She groaned in pain.

Naruto let her go immediately. "Sakura, are you hurt?" he asked frantically, looking her up and down with his wet, cerulean eyes.

Instead of answering him, she raised her hand, infused it with a green aura of her chakra and rested in on her stomach. She flinched and her eyes shut themselves tight for a millisecond until the pain subsided and the pain was gone.

* * *

_CRRAAASHHHH!_

Both lovers flew through a small shop on one side of the street at a hundred kilometers an hour. Debris smashed on the ground and showered over them, covering their backs and hair. They lay on the floor, exhausted. The battle had been going on for just under 45 minutes. Sasuke's chakra was starting to wear thin. His left forearm was fractured. Kaiya's right ankle was sprained and she was covered in burns from Sasuke's earlier jutsu. Singed holes were visible in her clothing, exposing burnt and blistering skin.

They strained, groaned and struggled to pull themselves to their feet.

Kaiya stumbled and had to lean on the wall for support due to her ankle. Sasuke leaned against the opposite, partially destroyed wall, hunched over in pain at his broken left arm. Both were wheezing from exhaustion.

Every second that had passed, Sasuke's heart grew heavier with hurt and angst when he had made an attempt to injure Kaiya. He had dreaded this day once Orochimaru had announced these plans of destruction. Every day, he had prayed in his cell for it not to come, but he knew deep down that praying was futile.

As they struggled to catch their breath, Sasuke and Kaiya stared at each other for a few seconds before she leapt at him again. He flinched at how much damage he had caused, especially the burns.

She landed a sweet left hook to Sasuke's cheek, sending him flying through to the abandoned neighbouring shop's wall. His desire to fight had almost diminished; he didn't want to cause anymore harm to her. But what choice did he have?

Sasuke stumbled to his feet.

"Kaiya… wait," Sasuke choked. Surprisingly, she stopped. Out of humanity? Or out of amusement at what Sasuke was about to say?

She said nothing.

"I… I can help you…" he said, his voice steadying. Kaiya snorted.

"I don't _need_ any help," she hissed. "Orochimaru is all the help I need."

"But… y-you'll die," Sasuke said, trying to hide the desperate tone in his voice.

Kaiya stared at him for a few moments.

"How do you think _you_ can help?" she spat, her eyes glaring. Even though the red glow was gone from her eyes, she was still very much under Orochimaru's control.

Sasuke lifted his hand to his left shoulder and ripped a huge slit in his already torn shirt.

"I… I can get rid of your curse-mark," Sasuke offered silently, exposing his bare shoulder where his curse-mark should be.

* * *

"You sure you can stand?" Kakashi said, also worried about Sakura's condition. Sure, Sakura was strong, but these clones were definitely stronger. She could've been killed; she could've been one of the hundreds of thousands of others K.I.A today.

Naruto helped her to her feet. After a few seconds, she lifted Naruto's hand away and stood on her own.

Suddenly, a deep, familiar scream echoed through the empty streets. Even though it came from far away from the others, his scream seemed so terrifyingly close.

"Was that… Sasuke…?"

* * *

Sasuke howled and doubled over in pain as Kaiya had unexpectedly sprung in front of Sasuke and jammed a kunai deep into his left thigh.

Sasuke grunted and gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to subside a little.

"P-please… listen to me…" Sasuke choked as he raised his head to face hers; her partially burnt face.

Sasuke silently prayed she couldn't see through the make-up he had smeared over his curse-mark. He reached down and yanked the kunai from his thigh and tossed it aside.

"I… I can g-get rid of… of your curse-mark… but… you need t-to listen… listen to m-me…"

Kaiya paused for a second.

_He… He can really help me…?_

_**FOOL! Don't listen to him!**_

…_O-Orochimaru?_

_**Yes, child, it is I!**_

_I…I…_

Kaiya gripped her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

_**Don't listen to him! He lies!**_

_But… he—_

_**He LIES! HE LIES!**_

_STOP IT!_

She shook her head back and forth. Sasuke could do nothing but stare at this odd behaviour.

_**HE LIES! KILL HIM!**_

…_NO! I won't list—_

_**KIIIIILL HIIIIIM!**_

_Is… is she trying to fight it…?_

Tears started to fall from Kaiya's cheeks. Noticing them, Sasuke reached a hand out to comfort her, but instead, she gripped his wrist with both hands –

"_LIAR_!" she screeched,

– twirled him around on the heel of her boot and sent him flying up and through the hole they had first crashed through. She then slumped to the ground in pain from her burns.

Sasuke landed hard, uttering a choke of pain, and sprawled across the roof of a nearby building. He skidded along the stone roof and flopped over the edge onto a lower stone roof.

She was now desperately fighting with Orochimaru to take control of her body back, but she was steadily losing.

As Sasuke came to, he heard the uneasy clinking of Kaiya's boots getting closer and closer. He fluttered open his eyes to see her standing on the edge of the higher ledge above him. Sasuke clumsily pulled himself up.

As he squinted up at her, her expression was something he had never seen before.

Kaiya's face was twisted in anger. She bared her teeth, her eyes wild and glaring. Blood constantly trickled out of the corner of her mouth and dripped down to her chin. Her ankle was swollen and she was breathing heavily. Some of her burns had started to blister and bleed.

She jumped down and slowly, but menacingly, limped toward Sasuke, bearing a kunai in her good hand.

"Kaiya…" Sasuke breathed, getting fed up and angry with this whole situation. "You have to… stop this… please! I… I can help you…"

"Liar!" she hissed, throwing the kunai at Sasuke. It dug deeply into his shoulder and he crouched in pain slightly as his features twisted in pain too; though he did not move to retrieve it.

Sasuke steadied himself and walked up to her, limping every so often.

She continued to furiously pelt Sasuke with kunais and shurikens. His body jerked abruptly with every deadly pierce, but Sasuke kept limping toward her, like a zombie. Kunais and shurikens jutted out from every part of his body. Blood was already pouring out of his wounds, but he ignored it.

Kaiya stopped then she realized she had only one kunai left. She gripped it tightly in her hand and stared at him with narrowed, confused eyes as Sasuke stopped inches from her. She groaned in pain as her burns started to take their toll.

He stared into her eyes for a few seconds. Kaiya didn't try to attack him again. She only gazed up with confusion and anger in her emerald eyes. Her twisted face dropped only slightly when Sasuke had approached her. Maybe some of her humanity was still alive in her after all; maybe Orochimaru hadn't won just yet.

"…And _why_ should I?" she seethed, more tears falling, despite her deadly tone.

Slowly, and despite the incredible, searing pain he was enduring, Sasuke lifted his good hand from his unbroken arm and placed it on her cheek. He pulled her in; just close enough for Kaiya to feel his hot breath on her cheek and nose.

"…Because I love you," he breathed, pushing his lips against hers.

* * *

**What was Sasuke thinking?**

**Can be break the strong, mental force Orochimaru has over Kaiya with just one kiss?**

**Or will he completely take over and kill him, and then her?**

**Will Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi get to Sasuke in time to save him?**

**Or will they be too late?**

**Tune into the next chapter to find out!**

**R&R PWEASE!**

**Peace, xx**


	13. Would You Kill, To Save A Life?

**Well I got a shit load of people read my fanfic overnight, 118 to be exact, which is bloody fantastic!**

**I AM SO OVER THE BLOODY MOON!  
THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH!**

**And this chapter is partially inspired by:**

**Hurricane – 30 Seconds To Mars, and**

**Hit The Floor – Linkin Park.**

**And no, this isn't a songfic. Those songs are just my inspiration.**

**So, back to the intense stuff…**

**Enjoy!**

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Episode 13 – WOULD YOU KILL, TO SAVE A LIFE?

The world seemed to freeze as the kiss lingered. Kaiya lifted a hand and tenderly placed it on Sasuke's shoulder.

A warm feeling overcame Sasuke that seemed to temporarily block out all the pain. He tried to hide a smile as the kiss lasted longer, until Sasuke was overcome by a sharp, burning sensation in his stomach.

His eyes widened in shock. As he broke the kiss, he coughed blood onto Kaiya's lips. Sasuke looked down to see she had driven her last kunai deep into his stomach.

Sasuke took a stumbled step back, but Kaiya held him close, digging her fingers into his shoulder.

She then pulled him close; just so her lips were barely touching his ear.

"Would you kill… to save a life?" she hissed, pushing the kunai deeper while uttering a sick laugh.

Sasuke could only manage choking sounds. More blood coughed past his lips and trickled down his chin.

"And tell me," she spat. "Would you kill —?

She twisted the kunai, causing Sasuke to cry out in pain, followed by blood spurting out from his stomach,

— To prove you're right?"

She then pushed Sasuke away, threw her head back and laughed maliciously.

Sasuke's heart was in pieces. His eyes were going in and out of focus.

_I can't take it... I can't take it anymore...__  
_

"You fool," Kaiya spat, uttering another laugh. She took a step closer, and then stopped. She gripped her lower stomach and began to moan in pain. Through Sasuke's fading focus, he saw her curse-mark glow, and begin to expand all over her body.

Kaiya was struggling to keep herself up.

_Her curse-mark… this is what she must have been talking about when she said it was killing her…_

She then began to howl in pain, raising one hand to her head.

_**You don't have much time, child! Kill him!**_

_I… I can't go on… L-Lord Orochimaru… p-please…_

_**KILL HIM! KILL HIM BEFORE HE KILLS YOU!**_

_STOP IT! Get out of my head! Go away!_

"…Ka-aiya…" Sasuke choked.

She looked up at him, her eyes desperate, shifting between confusion and anger. Even through the immense pain, Sasuke could see that she was definitely trying to fight for control of her own body.

"You… You have to f-fight it!" Sasuke yelled, his voice cracking. He continued to breathe heavily, but steadily.

Kaiya squeezed her eyes shut, both hands now clasped around her head.

"I… I can't…!" she cried.

Sasuke fell to his knees. "Kaiya…! You… You have to! Come on... Fight it…!"

_**DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! KILL HIM!**_

_STOP YELLING AT ME! STOP IT! STOP IT!_

"Kaiya…!"

"But—"

"—FIGHT IT…!" Sasuke screamed, lying on the ground and clutching his stomach.

_**KIIIILL HIIIIM!**_

Suddenly, the flame tattoos from Kaiya's curse-mark now engulfed her entire body. A horrible, unholy animal howl ripped from her throat. A force, Orochimaru's force, came over her body and caused her to sprout those large, dark bat wings she had did during their previous encounter. Her chakra was visible around her, though it wasn't like any other chakra; it was black, evil and surging around her.

She was no longer human.

This incredible force caused Sasuke to shudder with horror. He fought back tears of pain as he stumbled to his feet and prepared to battle this demon.

* * *

"Where _is_ he?" Naruto growled as they weaved through the broken streets of Konoha, closely followed by Kakashi and Sakura.

It was eerily quiet.

"Stop!" Kakashi hissed. His students obeyed.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked frantically. Kakashi had his fingers up against his ear and avoided his student's gaze. He looked up, a serious streak crossed his expression.

"There's only two left…" he whispered after receiving the news from his ear-radio. Sakura and Naruto couldn't decide if he was relieved or scared.

"Two?" Naruto echoed. Kakashi looked up at them.

"Yes… one clone, and Kaiya herself."

* * *

Sasuke was getting pummeled into the ground and beaten like a pulp. He had no more energy to fight back. He was constantly thrown and tossed around like a ragdoll.

Kaiya bore unholy strength.

Sasuke tried to fight back, but Kaiya's speed and ferocity had increased, tenfold. Every time Sasuke got to his feet, Kaiya was right there in front of him, ready to tear him down, again and again. She was no longer human; her rational thinking had disappeared, along with her sanity.

Sasuke managed to score a lucky punch to Kaiya's face as she was about to swoop, but ignoring it, as if she had never been punched, grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders and threw him through a nearby store wall at a ferocious speed.

Before he could get up, she marched over, grabbed him again, and again threw him on the ground.

Sasuke bounced repeatedly before skidding to a stop. He choked out in pain. He was covered in a copious amount of cuts and bruises.

"GET UP!" the beast growled.

Obeying, and not really sure why, Sasuke pulled himself up; barely. His vision was going in and out of focus. His lungs were on fire. He had reached his limits.

"_Tell me; would you kill, to save a life?"_

Her words were still very much alive in Sasuke's mind.

Barely seeing her hands move, Kaiya conjured hand signs and instantly, she concentrated a long whip of chakra from the palm of her hand and engulfed it in flames.

She drew her hand back and then forward, launching the whip at Sasuke. It wrapped itself around his broken forearm and threw him fifty feet in the air, and then slammed him down onto the dirt street.

She repeated this action, this time catching Sasuke around the chest. The whip singed through his shirt and burned his chest greatly. He howled in pain.

Again, Sasuke was lifted in the air and slammed down.

Still filled with rage and ungodly powers, Kaiya then proceeded to constantly whip Sasuke like a common circus animal. Sasuke made to attempt to stop her; the only girl he had ever loved was consumed by Orochimaru's power and was about to kill him.

Out of the corner of his eye, something glinted in the whip's flame and caught Sasuke's attention.

It was a kunai.

He started to inch towards it. His body felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds, but he pressed on. Fire had engulfed the nearby shacks. The overhead smoke was started to thin out. Overhead, thunder rumbled as little, dirty droplets began to fall from the sky, through the black smoke.

Kaiya didn't seem to notice Sasuke grab the kunai; she thought he was only trying to escape, so she continued to violently burn him with the fire whip. Sasuke fought threw the pain until he had a firm grip on the kunai and stumbled, for the last time, to his unsteady feet.

Once more, Kaiya drew her arm back and then forward. The whip cracked on the back-lash and came straight for Sasuke. A smirk of triumph slowly developed over Kaiya's demon-like face, as she thought this would be the final blow.

_It's now, or never…_ Sasuke gripped the kunai until his knuckles turned white.

The whip coiled its way around Sasuke's arm. Before Kaiya could attempt to toss him around like a piece of meat, Sasuke fought back tears, mustered up all the strength and determination he had left, gripped the whip with his bare hand, despite already being covered in burns, and pulled the whip forward with surprising strength.

Kaiya's expression shifted from triumphant to shock as she was hurled off her feet, forward to Sasuke.

When she was close enough, Sasuke lunged forward, and with one simple motion, drove the kunai straight through her heart.

* * *

**Damn, hey?**

**Sasuke really did bring himself to do it…**

**Do you think Sasuke made the right decision?**

**How long until the others catch up to him?**

**But most importantly, will Kaiya die?**

**Tune in next time.**

**R&R, pretty pretty please…?**

**Peace, xx**


	14. A Desperate Plea

**Hope you all loved the last chapter!**

**Soooo close to a 1000 views! Keep it up, guys! I love you all!**

**Enjoy!**

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Episode 14 – A DESPERATE PLEA

Tears forced to break through, but Sasuke held them back with whatever strength he had left. Kaiya's fire whip vanished. Her eyes were hidden in the shadow of her lowered head. Neither spoke, until Kaiya coughed up blood onto Sasuke's cheek and chest.

The rain suddenly started to pound the earth, diminishing all fires around them. Sasuke yanked the knife from Kaiya's chest. She swayed to and fro, coughed up pools of blood, and finally collapsed onto the ground, lifeless.

Sasuke dropped to his knees and hung his head.

_It's all over…_

All of the pain inflicted on Sasuke during the battle suddenly took its toll. It struck in his stomach and then spread to the rest of his body. His head was pounding.

Sasuke dropped onto his hands cried out in pain. Blood continuously dripped out from his mouth and copious wounds.

Sasuke's vision became severely blurred as he tried to stay conscious for long enough until someone came across him and Kaiya. He then flopped onto the wet ground, unable to move anymore. The rain washed over him and the now lifeless Kaiya. Most of the fires around them had diminished. The heavy, metallic scent of blood filtered and stung inside his nostrils.

Sasuke shifted his gaze to Kaiya. He could not see her face. He just watched a pool of blood appear from underneath her. He cringed.

He was about to lose consciousness when, in the distance, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

Sasuke lifted his head and held his breath, surely believing it was only his imagination. He listened hard.

"…Sasuke…!"

Sasuke rolled over so he was facing the direction of the person calling his name. At the end of the street, he saw three figures running towards him.

"…Sasuke…? Hey, Sasuke…!"

_Naruto…?_

"…It's him! It's Sasuke!" he heard the scratchy voice, belonging to Naruto, shout out.

Seconds later, all three were huddled around him, examining his wounds. Sakura gasped at how beaten up Sasuke was, and turned her head in disgust. Kakashi shook his head while Naruto was frantic.

"Sakura! Sakura! Can you heal him?" Naruto asked desperately. She immediately turned around.

"I… I'll try," she whispered. Her hands suddenly became surrounded by her green healing aura. Before she could apply her hands to Sasuke, he feebly brushed her aside.

"Sasuke, you have to let me heal you," she whispered sternly, trying not to cry.

"…No, Sakura…"

"Please, Sasuke, let me he—" Sasuke cut her off by gripping her wrist. He then pulled his mouth up to her ear and whispered ever so softly.

"…Sakura… heal Kaiya for me…"

"W-what…?" her green eyes widened.

"Please, S-Sakura… heal her… please…!" Sasuke pleaded softly into her ear through his choked up voice, squeezing his eyes in pain.

Nor Naruto or Kakashi could hear Sasuke whisper, they only saw Sakura's eyes widen in confusion. After a few more seconds, Sasuke let go of his grip on Sakura and immediately, she scrambled over to Kaiya.

Sakura stared back to Sasuke with sadness at his desperate expression. His bloodied face and trembling body caused tears to brim in her eyes. She had never seen him desire this much of her, never. They way his eyes pleaded with her; there was no way she could say no.

_Sasuke…_

_

* * *

_

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…_

Sasuke groaned.

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…_

_Where am I…?_

The constant, steady beating continued, and began to irritate Sasuke.

Slowly, he lifted his eyelids. Wherever he was, it was bright, silent and cool.

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…_

Things started to float back into place as his eyes began to focus. Suddenly, Sasuke shot up in the bed, breathing frantic, short breaths. The drip inserted in his forearm tugged on him slightly.

_Bed? A hospital bed? Why am I in the—?_

Memories of the battle suddenly flooded back. As soon as he sat up, the pain swirled in his head. The room swayed and he felt his brain pulse heavily against his temples. Sasuke raised a hand to his head, brushed it through his midnight black hair, and closed his eyes.

"Sasuke!" a small, female voice whispered. He looked to his left to see Sakura sitting in a small, white chair beside him, partially wrapped in bandages. Some bruises were visible on her arms.

Sasuke tried to lift his other hand to his stomach, but it was stiff.

He looked down to see his arm bandaged and in a sling, as well nearly his whole torso and legs bandaged up.

As he replayed the memories in his mind, his breathing calmed down.

Light shone brightly through the crack of the closed curtain. It was early morning.

"Sasuke, you mustn't move! You need rest!" Sakura scolded, standing up to assist him. He held up his good hand to stop her. Obediently, she sat back down, her face tainted with worry a she avoided Sasuke's gaze.

"Where is she?" demanded softly.

Sakura looked up at him and blinked.

"Where _is_ she?" Sasuke demanded, a little louder this time.

Instead of waiting for a reply, Sasuke stubbornly pushed back the tightly tucked sheets of the white bed, swung his feet over the edge, yanked out the drip with a short, hard tug of his teeth, and headed for the door.

Sakura could not help but watch Sasuke limp to the door, pull it open and disappear.

Sakura jumped out of her seat and dashed after Sasuke.

"Sasuke, wait!" she called. Nurses rushed to his side before Sakura could get there. Sasuke pushed past all of the nurses; they were afraid to touch him.

Kakashi suddenly appeared from around the corner and stood in Sasuke's way. Sasuke glared up at Kakashi as he refused to move.

"I have to see her," he hissed. Kakashi examined his body; he was covered in bandages and countless stitches; his eyes were sunken; he appeared frail and weak. Some of his burns were bleeding under his bandages from so much movement. Even though he wouldn't show it, Kakashi knew Sasuke was using every ounce of his strength to stand up and walk, no matter how hard it was.

_He shouldn't even be moving, let alone walking with these injuries…_

Kakashi tenderly laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and led him aside.

"I'm not going to lie," he said in a hushed whisper. "She's in an extremely unstable condition. The doctors are doing everything they can to—"

"—where…is she?"

"She's in the ICU, ward 3, but—"

Sasuke cut Kakashi off by pushing past him and walking briskly towards the ICU, ignoring requests from nearby nurses for him to get back to bed and rest.

The one thing Sasuke hated was hospitals. The constant reminder of the fact that people die here every day made Sasuke uncomfortable. Although, there was no doubt he had the up-most respect for doctors; he just didn't like hospitals.

Just steps from the ICU, an alarm sounded shrilly overhead, and a barrage of medical ninja and nurses sprinted past him, constantly knocking him on the shoulders.

"Something's wrong!"

"She's deteriorating!"

"Quick! Find Lady Tsunade!"

"There's no time! We'll just have to make do with—"

"—Doctor, what do we do?"

"Hurry! Hold her down!"

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. He continued to walk until he broke into a light jog, and then a sprint.

He had finally reached ward 3 in the ICU, and what his eyes rested upon next was the most terrifying and gruesome sight he had ever seen.

_BEEPBEEPBEEP...BEEPBEEPBEEEEEEP…BEEEEEEEPBEEPBEEP…BEEPBEEPBEEP…BEEPBEEP…BEEPBEEPBEEP...BEEPBEEP…_

Machines beeped and rang in alarm as nurses and doctors swarmed around a large, metal table.

Even though doctors dressed in white surrounded the large, metal table, he could still see a familiar, black figure, being forced down onto the table.

Sasuke stood in the doorway. His breath cut short as he examined the room properly. Every single doctor and nurse was covered in blood. Blood puddles stained the floor and dripped off the edge of the metal operating table.

"Nurse! Restrain her! Hurry!"

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP…_

Sasuke could hear vile, disgusting choking sounds. He finally caught a split-second glimpse of Kaiya on the metal table.

Without realizing what she was doing, Sasuke was walking into the blood-spattered room. As he got closer, his eyes widened in horror.

Kaiya's body was convulsing and writhing violently on the table. She was shrieking and vomiting up copious amounts of blood. She was still in her singed, burnt clothes.

"Doctor! She's deteriorating at an alarming rate!"

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP…_

The whole of her face and torso was caked with wet and dry blood. Her screams muffled by the vomiting of blood.

Doctors had their bloodstained hands gripped tightly around her neck, wrists, elbows, thighs and ankles. Tools were violently kicked off the table and landed on the floor.

"Bring me the sedative! Triple dose! NOW!"

_BEEPBEEP…_

"Yes doctor!"

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP…_

Tears brimmed in Sasuke's eyes as he gazed on this unholy horror, but he bravely fought them back.

Kaiya's eyes had rolled in the back of her head as she continued to convulse violently. Her arms and legs thrashed everywhere as her body slipped and slid in a dark pool of her own blood.

"She's losing too much blood!"

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP..._

"Give her the sedative!"

"Right!"

A nurse prepared a steady grip on Kaiya's thigh and waited for an opening. As soon as she saw one, she jammed the syringe into Kaiya's thigh and pressed her thumb down, down, down.

Little by little, Kaiya's body stopped convulsing and the vomiting blood stopped. The doctors and nurses held their grip on her until they deemed it safe to let go.

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEEEEEEP… BEEP BEEP… BEEP… beep… beep… beep…_

"Come on, Sasuke," Kakashi whispered solemnly from behind him, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Time to go back to your room and rest."

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes.

It was night time. And even though it was night time, all the nurses and doctors had been kept on extremely high-alert for Kaiya's unstable condition.

Sasuke had heard some nurses talking outside their door.

"Kaiya's condition has finally stabilized," one breathed in relief. "Lady Tsunade said we could go rest for an hour."

"Okay," the other agreed.

As soon as their footsteps had vanished, Sasuke quietly sat up and slowly pushed down his bed-sheets. He swung his legs over the bed and limped for the door. Sasuke pressed his ear against the wood to make sure the coast was clear. Once a passing nurse's footsteps faded, he slowly clicked open the door and hurried out.

The hospital was quiet. His footsteps made no sound as he shuffled to the ICU.

He hesitated before he pushed open the door labelled, "Ward 3". Taking a deep breath, he clicked open the door and pushed it slowly outward.

* * *

Three soft raps on the door awoke Naruto from his slumber. He moaned, and the guest took that as a "come in" and opened the door.

"Naruto…?" Sakura whispered.

Naruto stirred, rose up from his pillow and rubbed his eyes. "S…Sakura?"

"Hey, how you feeling?" she said soothingly as she clicked on the lights and strode over to Naruto's bedside.

Naruto raised his arms above his head and stretched, but then cringed slightly in pain. "Been better," he chuckled.

Sakura smiled sweetly as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"How 'bout you?"

"Yeah, I'm doing okay," she sighed.

Moments of silence passed until Naruto awkwardly cleared his throat.

Sakura turned to him. "Hm?"

"Well, Sakura, there was something I wanted to ask you," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"Yes?" she blinked.

"Well… Y-you know that girl? The one that almost destroyed everything?"

"Oh, Kaiya? What about her?"

"What I was wondering was… why did you heal her? I... I mean, she destroyed nearly the whole village! Why would you let her live…? It if was me, I would've let her die," he said softly.

Sakura lowered her head down at the floor with sad eyes. Her pink bangs covered her expression from Naruto. She rested her hands in her lap and started to fidget.

"Naruto, believe me when I say I wanted her to die too, but… But seeing the hurt and desperation in Sasuke's eyes, it just… It just made me realize that… That no matter how much I _hated_ Sasuke for what he did to you and I; no matter how much I wished he had _never_ came back, I… I just couldn't stand to see him suffer the way I suffered…"

* * *

**I love intense endings to a chapter!**

**R&R pleeeeease!**

**Peace, xx**


	15. AUTHOR'S NOTE: GOOD NEWS!

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: GOOD NEWS!**_

**If anyone is still reading this story, I have some very good news!**

**It's been a long time coming, but I will be doing a complete overhaul on this story, meaning I will be totally reconstructing it from the ground up—starting from chapter one, and so on.**

**I've come a long way in regards to the way I write. This story has always had a soft spot in my heart, since it was my very first, and I just can't bear to let it lay to waste by being unfinished.**

**So, as of August 2012, I am going to be re-writing this entire story. The plot line will still be the same, as will the characters. However, I may re-name my lead girl and change her appearance. That is the only change I will make, since she is the only problem I have with the story—besides being totally Mary-Sue.**

**New additions to the story will include MUCH, MUCH more character development/scenes/plot progression that leads up to the main event. I know that this story progressed rather quickly, and that you may already know what happens, but I'll be throwing in a whole lot more plot twists beforehand to make it all the more interesting.**

**So for those of you who are still interested in the story, please review to this note! It would mean the world to me if even just a few of you could. I can promise you that you won't be disappointed! :)**

**Much love,**

**HomeSkillitBiscuit.93**


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